EIS 1090 Supp Doc No 6 (European disturbance)

ABO1 9701

Archaeological Survey of Historical Sites: Grafton Management

Area WSW DEPT PRIMARI INAUSTRIES

ABO1 9701

GRAFTON MANAGEMENT AREA EIS

SUPPORTING DOCUMENT No. 6

EUROPEAN DISTURBANCE HISTORY

OF

DALMORTON STATE FOREST

by

Pauhne Curby

1993 4

jj FORESTS

Q1HRN RGON 0 State Forests of NSW

Ui DiSCLAIM ER

The findings of this report are based on the author's analysis and interpretation of the survey results. Views and interpretations presented in the report are those of the author and not necessarily those of the State Forests of New South Wales. STATE FORESTS OF NSW EUROPEAN DISTURBANCE HISTORY OF DALMORTON STATE FOREST

Site Specific Study Moratorium area Dalmorton State Forest

Prepared by: Pauline Curby 31 Trickett Road CRONULLA NSW 2230 (i)

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/11010: R J Ui//jams Undated building once part of Cunglebung homestead complex. This house is constructed of milled cedar weatherboards at the front and ironbark slabs on the back and side walls. The original shingles on the roof are now covered by corrugated iron. The building is said to have been the sleeping quarters for the homestead.

1 Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION . DALMORTON STATE FOREST .2 COMMUNICATION ROUTES...... 3 GRAZiNG...... 6 Cunglebung - the Big Valley...... 6 Closer Settlement - late 19th Century...... 8 Closer Settlement - 20th Century...... 10 JackMarsh ...... 12 Changes to the Environment...... 12 M11 NG...... 16 Rushto the Little River ...... 16 SmallTime Mining...... 18 SlyGrog and Local Legends ...... 19 GoldRush Towns...... 20 TIMBER...... 25 Cedar...... 25 HoopPine...... 27 Hardwoods...... 27 Royal Commission into the Timber Industry...... 27 FirstForestry Reserves...... 27 Deverell's Reports ...... 29 Beginning of Dalmorton State Forest...... 30 Bullockies...... 31 The Closer Settlement Issue...... 33 Hoop Pine Logging in the Moratorium Area...... 33 Hardwood Logging in the Post War Period...... 34 Dalmorton State Forest Grows...... 36 conclusion...... 38 BIBLIOGRAPHY...... 39 Appendix1 ...... 41 Appendix2...... 42

List of Illustrations

Sleeping quarters Cunglebung homestead...... (i) Map Dalmorton State forest - Access Roads 1845-1880...... 4 Sketch Map 1884 - Cunglebung Run...... 9 Section of County Gresham map, 1986 ...... 11 Photos showing European disturbance in the MA...... 14 Photo Taylors' gold mine...... 20 Photos showing low-level effects of mining in the MA ...... 2 1-23 Sketch of area covered by F D Deverell's reports...... 26 County of Gresham Map, 1873 - Clarence Forest Reserve...... 28 Section of Coffs Harbour District Map 1965 - Dalmorton State Forest and Forest Reserves...... 32 Sid Adams with bullock team...... 34 Dalmorton State Forest Map showing extensions from 1962-1980...... 35 Acknowledgements

The following people contributed to the preparation of this report and are gratefully acknowledged:

Barry Adams Roger Hall (State Forests of NSW Coffs Harbour) Michelle Hurcum (Department ofLands Office Grafton) Doug Scott Arthur Wakeman (NSW Department ofLands) Keith Watters Bob Williams (State Forests of NSW Grafton)

Abbreviations

AONSW Archive Office of New South Wales C&RE Clarence and Richmond Examiner CRHS Clarence River Historical Society DF District Forester DSF Dalmorton State Forest EIS Environmental Impact Study FC Forestry Commission FCF Forestry Commission file FR Forest reserve MA Moratorium area NPWS National Parks & Wildlife Service RC Royal Commission into the Timber Industry, 1907-8 SF State Forest SHIP State Heritage Inventory Program SpIL Special lease T&CJ Town and Country Journal TR Tree reserve TSR Travelling Stock Reserve introduction

INTRODUCTION

This report on the European disturbance history of Dalmorton State Forest (DSF), with particular emphasis on the northern part of DSF, the moratorium area (MA), was commissioned by State Forests of NSW (SFNSW) on 26 March, 1993.

Consultant historian, Pauline Curby, used the following methodology:

A review of secondaiy sources including published work relevant to the study and the historical and archaeological reports already completed for the EIS.

Exhaustive library and archival research in Grafton and Sydney.

Fieldwork - including inspection of key sites in targeted areas.

Written report using a chronologicallthematic approach. The consultant has made use of themes identified in a report by 'Blackmore and Associates' and to the 'SHIP' guidelines.

The title and ownership of all intellectual property in the manuscript to be jointly owned by the author and SFNSW.

In this report the area that is now covered by DSF and the MA are, where convenient, referred to as such, even when these were not historical entities at the time. This is preferable in this case to a term such as the 'study area' in order to avoid confusion and ambiguity. It is made clear in the report when DSF came into existence.

The terms 'tree reserve' (TR) and 'forest reserve' (FR) are used in FC files. It is not clear, especially in the 1920s and 1930s, if these terms are synonymous.

Page 1 Da/morton State Forest

DALMORTON STATE FOREST

The rugged country of thy hardwood timber bounded by the Mann, Boyd and Nymboida Rivers is an area of steep terrain, intersected by countless creeks. This locality has been occupied by white people continuously since the 1 860s and possibly since the I 840s. Its long Aboriginal history, not yet dated, is evidenced by the many artefacts found on ridge lines and at camp sites such as Cunglebung Creek.

The position of this area, between the Tablelands and the coast, has been an important element in its history. Two of the main routes from Grafton to Glen Innes are located here. The importance of these communication routes has not been assessed in this report. This is an aspect of the district's history which needs further research. An analysis, for example, of the volume of the wool trade from Glen limes to Grafton or the impact of the various campaigns to establish a rail link between the Tablelands and Grafton would add valuable insights into the role of the district as a link between the two areas.

The three main aspects of European disturbance history which are dealt with in this report are:

Pastoral grazing Mining Timber industry

In examining the latter the history of area's gradual acquisition by SFNSW is examined. The first part of DSF was gazetted in 1926. It was gradually added to in the 1960s and 1970s until it reached its present size in 1980. The MA was added to DSF in 1977. A tentative attempt is made, using the scant material readily available, to make some general comments on the impact of European disturbance on the environment.

PaRe 2 Communication Routes

COMMUNICATION ROUTES

The area that is now DSF first came to the attention of white people not because of its scenic beauty, valuable timber, grazing potential or mineral wealth, but because of its position. Located on one of the earliest routes between the Tablelands and the coast the area was for many people not a destination but a route through which one passed travelling between Glen Innes and Grafton.

Boyd and Mann, on their exploratoiy journey from the Tablelands in the late 1 830s, are said to have come as far as Cunglebung.' R.C.Law, writing in the 1930s, explains his attempt to ascertain the route they took:

I asked.. whether there was any particular route in continuation of the old track by Doboy, Dinner Creek and Cunglebung leading across the Mann River and up into the Table/and IvIy object was to make a guess at the route by which Mann and Boyd came down from the table/and... There is such a track leading up from the homestead of the station of Cooraldooral.2

In the 1 840s the New England squatters searched with determination for a route to the coast by which their wool could be sent to market. Two of the routes that were eventually found and regularly used, run through DSF. The older of the two routes crosses the Nymboida River at Doboy Crossing. This was gazetted a travelling stock reserve (TSR) in 1871 and is clearly marked on an 1884 sketch map of Cunglebung Station. As it followed Cunglebung Creek it was a good route for stock (and bullock teams) with plenty of feed and water.

The other route was further south and Law describes it thus:

Before the cutting was made on the Glen Innes Road up the Little River, the road went from Buccarumbi by way of the Blacksmith's Shop along the top of the range.3

This route was more fully described by Law in his commentary on the Bawden Lectures:

(after crossing the Nymboida) the track went straight up to the top of the mountain and headed both Gulf and Black Hole Creek and thence by the Blacksmith's Shop keeping to the watershed al/the way to Barney's Hill where it went down a very steep pinch of about a tho usandfeet onto Newton Boyd 4

Another route which used Doboy Crossing is described as 'via Doughboy (sic), Sweeney's track to the Blacksmith's Shop, Barney's Hill, Newton Boyd, Big Hill.' The drays, it was reported, 'come across it in all weathers'. This was the route favoured in the 1 860s by the superintendent of roads to become the main road.5

The road which eventually became the main route followed the Boyd (Little) River and is now known as the Old Glen Innes Road. It was upgraded to the status of a government road in 1865.6 The Clarence and Richmond Examiner (C&RE) reported in 1870 that this road 'is now open and is used by a large proportion of the traffic'.7 When the Bawden bridge (over the Orara River) and Buccarumbi bridge (over the Nymboida) were opened in 1875 the

Page 3 Commwizcaiion Routes

4t. DALMORTON AREA (Period 1845 - 1880)

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VM} Map of Dalmorton State Forest showing location of Access Roads used during the period 1845-1880.

journey to the tablelands was facilitated and the crowds rushing to the Little River Gold Fields could travel more easily.

In his biography of Edward Ogilvie, George Farwell suggests that Craig's Line from the Tablelands to the coast may have been a well-worn Aboriginal track which Craig had learnt of during his time living with the Aborigines.8 It would seem, from archaeologist Roger Hall's review of the available literature, that this is also a possibility with regard to the Cunglebung track. Hall sums up his findings by concluding that the occupation of what are now state forests was 'transitory and occurring on a seasonal basis by small mobile groups' and that 'small camp sites would be located along these lines of movement'.9 The site which he discovered at Cunglebung could be one of these. Certainly it seems from anecdotal evidence that the name Cunglebung is derived from the aboriginal Gunglebung, meaning Big Valley'.'0

E ndnotes

Communication Routes 1 The First Fifty Years of Settlement on the Clarence, The Bawden Lectures, CRHS, 1987, p6

Page 4 Communication Routes

2Law, R C Historical Notebooks, CRHS, 21:105 3ibid, 20:47 4Bawden, op.cit., p116 5Law, op.cit., 37:93 R B, Old New England, Sydney Urn Press, 1966, p17 7C&RE, 8 Feb, 1870 8Farwell, G, Squatters' Castle, Lansdowne, 1973, Melbourne 9Hal1, R & Lomax, K, An Archaeological Assessment of the Grafton Management Area, FC of NSW, April 1993 10Nran Daley, an Aborigine from Baryugil, told Keith Watters this some years ago.

Page 5 Graing

GRAZING

Cunglebung - the Big Valley

It is not known whether the white invaders arriving in ever-increasing numbers from the early I 840s onwards saw open forest, the product of careful management by burning, or dense vegetation pierced by well-worn tracks and semi-cleared areas. Whatever they saw, they believed it was theirs to take from people who had, to their mind, not made productive use of the land. To the nineteenth century British way of thinking this was all the justification needed for acquisition.

Initially it was not the push-over they expected. The Aborigines fought back with determination, guile and sometimes cruelty. The invasion of the Clarence by the squatters and the subsequent warfare with the local Aboriginal people is beyond the scope of this present work. It is a story of theft; murder; massacre and destruction of a way of life. The names of the squatters and their runs have been inscribed with great frequency in the place names of the Richmond and Clarence districts. Occasionally a memory of the frightful events which were part of the squatters' legacy is also recorded in a place name such as Slaughtering Creek, just outside DSF. Local legend attributes this name to the killing of stolen sheep there by the Aborigines. Others think it refers to the slaughter of the Aboriginal people in retaliation for their theft. It is said that the bones of the massacred blacks could still be seen until the 1915 bushfires erased any trace of the killing.

When the squatters invaded the Clarence, as a result of the first economic boom in NSW colonial history,' their class was in the midst of a bitter confrontation with Governor Gipps. This representative of British imperialism was, at the time, attempting to extract a little payment from the squatters for their use of the vast tracts of land which they had so bloodily appropriated. The Orders-in-Council of 1847, designed to give the squatters the security of (in the Clarence district) fourteen year leases, were never fully implemented because surveys of the runs had not been completed. Most squatters took out annual licences which they perceived as 'a full title to the land'.2 They did not buy the land which they exploited and paid as little as possible for its use. A few of these pastoral families put down roots in the district but these were the exception. Many were wealthy absentee landlords who claimed possession of several stations which changed hands with remarkable frequency. The handsome profits from their pastoral holdings enabled them to maintain mansions in Sydney and enjoy overseas trips for extended periods.

The fact that most stations had not been surveyed is important when locating run boundaries in this early period. This meant that:

the rent paid was on the area as estimated by the squatter himself This made it possible for squatters with elastic consciences to send in estimates smaller than the real size of their runs and so pay less rent.3

Sometimes the area was two or three times larger than that estimated.

Page 6

Gra_ing

This delightfully vague description of the boundaries of Curidural (sic) Run in 1850 was all - that was required to secure the squatter, William Rhodes, unfettered control of vast tracts of land:

Bounded on the East by the Cangi Run, on the North by a high range, on the West by

the Newton Boyd Run and on the South by the Boundaiy of Ermington Run.4

Squatters on the Clarence had the additional advantage that the Land Commissioner, Henry Oakes, whose job it was to check licences and boundaries

was a person considerably advanced in life, encumbered with a large family and of late quite unequal to the duties which he had to pe,form.5

The area between the Boyd and Mann Rivers, where Cunglebung Run was located was, Bawden claimed, originally part of Buccarumbi Station (this covered the part of DSF south of the Boyd River). As neither station is listed in the 1847 Government Gazette this is hard to verify. A name such as Sheep Station Creek indicates that there was some European presence in that area in the 1 840s when sheep stocked the pastoral properties.

The first official reference to Cunglebung Station was in the Return of Crown Lands held under Pastoral Occupation of 1865 to the Legislative Assembly of NSW.6 In this return Cunglebung Run was listed as consisting of 40,000 acres held, since 1 January 1863, by N. Cowan and N. McLean. For this they paid an annual rent of £45 a year. By contrast C.G.Tindal at Ermington Run paid £60 a year for a smaller run of 38,400 acres. Obviously Cunglebung, with its steep terrain and difficult access, was not considered prime land.

The 1 860s was the era of the Free Selection Acts, designed to put working people on the land. All over the Clarence and the Richmond many of the big stations were broken up as people who had managed to save up some money, took advantage of the legislation which would eventually give them title to their land. Unlike many of the pastoralists these people would settle with their families, live on the land, effect 'improvements' and eventually pay off what amounted to a low interest loan and obtain the free hold of their small acreage.7 Up in the rough Cunglebung country the pastoralists were unaffected by this dramatic change in white management of the land. The selectors initially settled on the fertile and accessible riverfront land. Country such as DSF was left to the squatters and the grazing of cattle. The Free Selection Acts were the first of a series of attempts by successive governments to put people on small holdings. It was not until 1938, however, that Cunglebung was finally judged suitable for closer settlement.

Anecdotal accounts indicate that in the I 860s Cunglebung was probably more than an outstation for a larger holding. Harvey Maxted told R.C.Law, in the 1930s, that his mother took the job of housekeeper at Cunglebung in 1863.8 The presence of at least one (possibly more) domestic servant implies that this was not just a bush shack for the pastoral workers. Possibly one of the bosses lived there at the time. Perhaps fear of the impact of the Free Selection Acts had encouraged such a move.

Nevertheless, an indication of the remoteness of the place is the story about Harriet Seller who, in 1866, was going to live at Newton Boyd. She is said to have travelled through Cunglebung, making the seventy mile trip with a six week old baby in her arms. Harvey Maxted, a boy at the time, later recalled that this was the first white child he had seen.9 The

Page 7 Grcthng

word 'white', implies that there were still Aborigines living around Cunglebung, some perhaps employed on the station.

In 1861 Doboy Crossing was gazetted a village reserve suggesting that the crossing, and hence the road through Cunglebung, must have been a very busy one. The fact that Maxted had not seen a white child before Mrs.Seller's baby suggests that the route was not a highway for travellers such as family groups, but was probably resthcted to bullockies with their loads of wool. In 1875 a travelling stock route through the property was gazetted reinforcing the importance of this as a thoroughfare.'°

Closer Settlement - late 19th Century

One result of the move towards closer settlement was the presence of more surveyors and hence a greater precision in the descriptions of the remaining pastoral holdings. The description of Curidural, previously referred to, for example, has been neatly crossed out in the records of run boundaries and replaced by a more exact description."

Cunglebung, described as consisting of 40000 acres in 1865, was, according to the First Annual Report upon the Occupation of Crown Lands of 1879, now 64,000 acres.'2 It was leased by N.McLean and J.Cowan, (Norman Cowan had died in 187213) and for this they paid £30 a year rent. The rate per square mile was six shillings which was, in comparison to other holdings on the Clarence, a very low rate. This is the third lowest rate per square mile in the whole Clarence Pastoral District which extended up to the Queensland border. Neighbouring Curidural, for example, was assessed at a rate per acre five times greater than Cunglebung. No wonder Cowan and McLean were never troubled by free selectors. Obviously the land was not seen as valuable.

By the 1 880s further land legislation was in train to tighten up the provisions of the Free Selection Acts. The Crown Lands Act of 1884 was a comprehensive piece of legislation. The section which is pertinent for the purposes of this report is the provision which allowed the squatters to divide their leaseholds into Leasehold Area and Resumed Area. In the Eastern Division the squatter could then re-lease his leasehold area for a fixed term of five years. The Resumed Areas could be occupied under annual licences. These latter areas would be subject to free selection at any time if the run holder did not exercise his right to secure a licence. King notes that 'for the purposes of a licence, the land and boundaries need to be determined only with reasonable accuracy by a general description'.'4

In the same year that this crucial legislation was passed Cowan and McLean were involved in a dispute concerning the boundaries of their run. An area of 13000 acres in the south western section of the run was, they declared 'generally worthless'. This area, it was claimed, was really part of Wintervale Run and the lessees wanted a refund for part of the rent that had been paid on their leasehold.'5 The old imprecise boundaries were no longer workable as the government attempted to extract a more equitable charge from the squatters. Gone were the days when the squatter could assess, very loosely, the acreage of his holding and pay a small sum but in reality make use of a much greater area.

Page 8 Graing

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Sketch map 1884, showing proposed division of Cunglebung Station into Cunglebung and Cunglebung West. This also shows the 13,000 acres which Cowan and McLean claimed was not part of their holding.

They also claimed that the western area of their run was 'barren ranges not used by them and practically unavailable country'.'6 They sought to have the run subdivided into Cunglebung and Cunglebung West. This was to take advantage of the new legislation allowing for leaseholds and resumed areas. They were successful in their endeavour because Cunglebung Run is listed in Hanson's The Pastoral Possessions of NSW as a leasehold area of 48,900 acres on which an annual rent of £89 2s. lOd. was paid.'7 The run also included a resumed area of 66,800 acres (the western part of the holding). It is not clear what rent was paid on this. By describing the area as 'barren ranges' and having it classified as a resumed area they were probably only paying rent on less than half their property. King indicates that

Page 9 Gra_-ing

pastoralists were permitted to hold resumed areas under annual licence but he does not say what payment was required for this.18 The danger was of course that the area could be selected at any time, but obviously Cowan and McLean did not think that there was any possibility of their barren ranges' being grabbed by an aspiring farmer. The 1906 County of Gresham map shows the whole of the old Cunglebung Run area, except for the south eastern part, as Resumed Area. Later parish maps, for example, the 1916 Parish of Wellington map, show the area under occupation lease.

The AONSW documents of 1884 contain the last official reference to Cunglebung as a separate pastoral holding. It is not listed in the index attached to the 1903 HEC Robinson map of NSW showing Pastoral Stations or the 1910 or 1921 maps in the same series. Anecdotal accounts indicate that:

John Cowan carried on Cunglebung in partnership with Norman McLean for about 35 years... Cunglebung was sold to Charles H.Dight, a brother of Mrs. T.B.McDougal of Buccarumbi.'9

Local sources indicate that the McDougall family leased the property, as well as Buccarumbi, until 'they were finished by the 19 15-16 drought'.20 It was then taken over by the Turnbull family.

Closer Settlement - 20th Century.

The early twentieth centuly legislation encouraging closer settlement left Cunglebung unscathed, until the Closer Settlement Bill of 1937. In the parliamentary debate on the bill, it was claimed that this was a measure aimed at helping share farmers and the sons of share farmers 'who have experience but who possess only limited capital'.2' Provision was made for appeal to the Land and Valuation Court for anyone who was unsatisfied with the process by which their leaseholds were resumed. Keith Watters recalls the implementation of the legislation when Cunglebung and the crown leases in the surrounding district were 'thrown open'. Watters remembers every case being tested in court and the fact that 'you had to have a rural background to qualify'. He also mentioned that an application had to be backed by proof of assets. 'If you didn't have sufficient assets you didn't qualify for a block'.22 One wonders how many share farmers and their sons had the assets to qualify. Cunglebung Run was broken up into blocks for grazing which successful applicants drew by lot.

Jack Watters the owner of a 'second or third rate dairy farm' near South Grafton was one of the successful ones. One of his sons, Keith, recalls how:

You were given five years to fence it and do some timber treatment (ring-barking). Turnbulls ended up with about one fifth of the land that they had, after it was thrown open.23

Jack Watters drew Crown Leases 1938/17 and 1939/1 and Errol Turnbull drew the block where the old Cunglebung homestead is located. This Keith Watters acquired in 1956

And so after 75 years Cunglebung Run was broken up into smaller holdings. Its grazing history has, however, continued until the present, with leases still held over much of the area that comprised the old station.

Page 10

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lvi IICJICII L.IUFU1V Section of County of Gresham map, 1906, showing the 'Resumed Areas' covering most of what had been Cunglebung Run.

Page 11 Gra_-ing

Jack Marsh

What local people remember about a place - the names and stories that are associated with it - become part of the persona of a locality. In local legend it is not the pastoralists or their families that are associated with Cunglebung. It is, on the contrary, the name of a humble working man who spent about seventy years of his life in and around Cunglebung. This man was Jack Marsh, still remembered as a yard and fence builder without equal. Keith Watters describes him as someone for whom 'near enough was not good enough; just right would hardly do'.24 He did the fencing right through from Cunglebung to Marengo Station and in 1936 built the stockyards, part of which are still at Cunglebung. He 'had to have a certain quality of timber or he wouldn't put it up ... He worked by himself with a pair of drought horses to pull the timber'.25

Jack Marsh worked for Turnbulls when they had the Cunglebung leasehold, 'for £52 a year'. Later, as an old man, rather than retire he worked three days a week for the Watters. Jack is remembered as a semi-reclusive man who 'never went to town much' but who loved and understood the bush. He is said to have partly lived off the land but never exploited it. When he needed to be he was, according to Doug Scott, 'a damn good shot with a gun'.26 If fish weren't plentiful he fed them with 'a bit of roo meat hung over the water'. Doug Scott remembers how, towards the end, he and Jack Watters had to coax Marsh into Doug's 'old bus' to get him to town for medical attention. He spent the remainder of his days with his sister in Grafton. Her grandchildren managed to teach the illiterate old bushman to read a few words and sign his own name before he died.27

Changes to the Environment

In order to access the impact of European disturbance, one needs to know what the area was like before the coming of white people. There is no record, so far uncovered, of the type of vegetation which Europeans found when they first arrived in DSF. Bawden recalls that, in 1840 travelling down from the tablelands as a boy, along Craig's line, the grass had to be burnt to allow the drays to get through.28 This sort of growth would be consistent with regularly fired grass, perhaps just before its periodic burning. When the squatters arrived they probably found open forest, the result of regular light burning. This landscape was suitable for their grazing flocks, and later herds.

Deverell's 1922-1923 reports are the first detailed descriptions of the area that are available. These reports, undertaken for the FC, understandably concentrate on the nature of the timber in the area. Nevertheless, it is possible to gain a general picture of DSF from Deverell's comments. He described an area that showed the unmistakable marks of decades of grazing.

His first report, notes that Section 1 (see sketch p26) was open, had good grass, an inadequate water supply but 'splendid timber'. Section 2 he described as 'first class grazing land'. In Section 8 he commented on the fact that 'the country has been rung for three chains on each side of the creek'. His second report noted that in the vicinity of Stockyard Creek the country was open with good grass. Section J was also good grazing land that had been 'rung' years before. In Section K there were thick growths of lantana.29

Page 12 (;iaziiig

The area dealt with in Report 3, the MA, he described as steep, inaccessible country with patchy' timber. He noted open grazing country in the vicinity of Cowan Creek and extensive ring-barking around Wellington Creek. Young trees (regrowth?) are noted in several of the sections. This observation is phrased in FC jargon and described as trees in the 'pole and the undergirth stages. Old trees, perhaps beginning to show defects, (referred to as 'overmatured trees') were found in the Reids Creek area. He wrote, 'in view of the position of this stand I think most of it will go up in smoke'.3° He does not explain whether this would occur if the area came under FC control or if the lessee would do the burning.

In his last report in 1923 he again comments on ring-barking and extensive areas of open country. At Harry's Flat Creek he notes that the country has 'had a fire over it and most of the timber had been burnt'.3' As the report was done in April this sounds like a bushfire rather than the usual burn-off done in late winter and early spring.

The evidence of burning-off by the lessees is indirect but is indicated by the constant references to open country. This activity may have been apart of a continuum learnt from the Aborigines in the earliest days of white occupation and continued to the present.

The extent of ring-barking was minimal compared to that in an area deemed suitable for agriculture where, after a few years, there would hardly be a tree left standing. Nevertheless, Deverell noted evidence of the practice in all of his reports. Ring-barking was not just undertaken at the whim of the pastoralists. It had official sanction after 1881 as an improvement 'for the purposes of valuing an occupier's equity in his land'.32 This was laid down in a Supreme Court judgement of 1881. Until the 1960s this remained government policy. Barry Adams, the lessee of Portion 5, Parish of Cowan, risked losing his leasehold when, in the early 1960s, he declined to do the required amount of ring-barking. Barry tells how

for this first five years I had to do SO much improvements to sat/sfj' the Lands I)epartmeni... when the Lands i)eparlinent came and inspected they said, 'You haven't ring-harked enough timber'. Well, I said, 'I don't feel like ring barking logs that I can make a living out of. So it got down to the point 1 had to go to court to have a discussion. I had two days in court and I won the argument. Next couple of years they altered the legislation to say you didn't have to carry out this idea of mutilating timber that s some value in fitly years. Here I am today with timber that should have been dead and! still have it alive.33

Page 13 Grazing

Photos showing European Disturbance in the MA

Photo; RI II Cleared area looking north up Wellington Creek Valley from Cunglebung Road

Photo. R.T Williams Near dam at "Mangeys Flat" western side of Wellington Creek, approximately 500 metres south of Pine Creek Junction.

Page 14 (;ri?zg

Endnotes

Grazing 1Blackmore, K & Associates, Grafion, Casino & Murwillumbah EIS European Heritage Historical Report, Sept 1992, p11 2Baker, DWA, 'The Origins of the Robertson's Land Acts', in Historical Studies, Australia & New Zealand, Melbourne Urn Press, p107 3ibid, p109 4Registers of run boundary files - Clarence district, AONSW, 8/2204 5Law in Bawden, quoting Gipps, p60 67he Return of Crown Lands held under pastoral occupation, of 1865 to the Legislative Assembly of NSW 7Blackmore, op.cit., pp 15-17 8Law, 8:46 9Daily Examiner, 24 Nov, 1932 '°County of Gresham map, 1873, Mitchell Library 11AONSW, op., cit. 127he First Annual Report upon the Occupation of Crown Lands of 1879 13C&RE, 20 Aug 1872, p2 14King, C J, An Outline of Closer Settlement in NSW, Govt Printer, Sydney 1957, p99 15AONSW, op.cit. 16ibid 17Hanson, W, The Pastoral Possessions of NSW, Gibbs, Shallard & Co, Sydney 1889, p51 18Yjg, op.cit., p99 19Law, 43:49 201nterview with Keith Watters, 12 April 1993 21Parliamentary Debates, NSW Legislative Assembly, 4 Nov 1937, 2036 22Watters, op.cit.

2515id 261nterview with Doug Scott, 13 April 1993 27Watters, op.cit. 28Bawden, op.cit., p41 29Deverell, op.cit. 30ibid, p2 31ibid, p6 32Bolton, op.cit., p44 33B Adams, op.cit.

Page 15 Mining

MINING

Rush to the Little River

Norman McLean, one of the lessees of Cunglebung, was reputed to have first found gold there in 1864. It wasn't long before fourteen men were said to be working this newest goldfield.' This was the beginning of the gold fever which was to take hold of the district for a few short years. The big rush did not take place there, however, but further south on the Boyd River. It was eight years after the Cunglebung discovery that the Boyd or Little River Goldfield was proclaimed on 8 May, 1872. The gold rush that began the following month was reported by the Town and Country Journal (T&CJ):

The rapid influx of gold seekers to this part of the country is rather astonishing to the quiet folks of the Clarence River and district.2

Although this report concentrated mainly on the riches of the Solferino reefs, those on the 'Little River' were also mentioned:

The Little River reefs are absorbing a great number, and are likely to become very valuable diggings, but there is not enough known of them to give anything very reliable.3

The following week it was reported that 'splendid stone' was being extracted from the 'limited number of claims at work' 4 Later it was reported that there are 'very few men here yet... and a rush is daily expected'.5 However, activity had increased, a crusher was being erected at an undisclosed location and the results of the first crushing were being eagerly awaited.

In this report mention is made of the Homeward Bound mine 'producing really fine stone' and the Perseverance mine, where five or six claims were also getting 'really fine stone'. Inevitably there were disputes over claims and the arrival of the Commissioner 'was anxiously awaited'.6 Crooks and speculators were already taking advantage of gullible investors in Sydney and there were rumours that at No.5 North Perseverance the true value of the claim was being suppressed.7 As was usual on a goldfield the grog sellers arrived promptly on the scene to separate the miner from his money. By June 1872 the T&CJ reported that:

several Sydney hotel keepers... were engaged in pegging out sites on which they intend erecting public houses.8

By September 1872 the Little River was a rollicking goldfield of'500 souls':

Three public houses in addition to the present one will be ready for their share of the plunder, as soon as the miners pocket their proceeds of the first crushing.9

This was to be done with a crushing machine 'of very small dimensions (but which) contains the latest improvements'.'0

Page 16 Mining

The local presence of a gold commissioner was felt to be urgent and T&CJ declared that Captain Sinclair of Grafton, who held this office, 'might as well reside in London as fifty miles from the field'.'1 The goldfield was becoming so busy that it was no longer felt that a mail deliveiy once a week was enough and a biweekly service was demanded.

The opening of the crushing machine, by Miss Brown of Broadmeadows', was celebrated vociferously with champagne and a lunch and then a booze up at 'Mr.Brown's Little River Hotel'. The returns from the first crushing at the Perseverance were reported as good. People were said to 'arrive here daily and fresh rushes are heard of in all directions'.'2

But all was not well on the goldfields. Two hundred signatures were collected for a petition asking Premier Parkes to ensure that a gold commissioner visited the place once a fortnight and that a resident justice of the peace, mining surveyor and policeman be appointed.'3 The surveyor in particular was needed as many claims were laying idle, unable to be worked until they had been surveyed.

The following Januaiy it was reported that the

Little River is becoming quite a lively place and gives every hope of becoming a rich and permanent goldfield. 14

Mr Mills' crushing machine was now 'quite inadequate'.'5 Despite this optimism there were already unmistakable signs that this goldfield would not bring a bonanza to the battler. The need to go deep to obtain quartz veins had been noted amidst the euphoria of the early djscoverj•6 This was expensive and necessitated the investment of considerable capital. In January 1873 No.1 Prospecting Area adjoining Tower Hill mine was reported to be idle because of the 'expense of carting quartz to the mill prevents many from crushing their stone'.'7 So not only did the miners have to dig deep for their gold, they had the difficulties of transporting heavy rock over difficult, unroaded terrain and then had to pay the owner for the use of his crushing machine - an unobtainable item for the average miner.

The early promise of the area for mining was not fulfilled. By 1880 W.F.Poole, mining registrar, reported that during the previous year 'mining generally has been very dull'.'8 In that year also E.F.Pittman, geological surveyor, inspected the reefs in the Dalmorton and Cunglebung districts. The report was very favourable and Pittman assured the public that the reefs could be worked profitably and 'only require working to prove payable investments'. He makes a telling comment when he remarked that in visiting 38 reefs in the district he noticed 'the quantity of unprofessional work which has been done'. He was told that:

the majority of the miners who opened the gold-field were inexperienced in such work, and were chiefly navvies and bushmen. The employment of such unskilled labour has resulted in the expenditure of a considerable amount of capital, with very little to show for it.19

He bemoaned the fact that no miners were in Dalmorton and that 'a fine crushing plant of 10 stamp-heads (is) lying idle' and that another on Dinner Creek near Cunglebung had been removed several years before. This meant that the reefs, some of which appeared to be 'well worth working, could not be tested.20

Page 17 Mining

Small Time Mining

On Cunglebung Station gold-seeking continued - not by the capitalists or the big investors - but by the battlers. Alluvial diggings, Pittman reported, had been worked since 1866, 'giving fair wages to a few men'. He located these diggings as beginning about 4 miles up Wellington Creek from its junction with Cunglebung Creek. The diggings extended for about two more miles up the creek and at the time were being worked by about fourteen men. His assessment continued:

At the head of this patch of alluvial ground is the Switzerland Reef, a narrow vein from 4 to 6 inches wide, bearing 5 degrees east of north, and dipping east. A tunnel was driven 40 feet on the reef some years ago. Some of the stone is said to have been rich, but no quantity of it was crushed In conclusion, I have the honour to state that among the numerous reefs in the Cunglebung and Dalmorton district, there are not a few which, I am of the opinion, only require working to prove payable investments, and while Mr. Frazer's fine crushing plant remains at the latter place there are special facilities for a thorough prospecting of the district.2'

This pattern of battlers scratching a living continued for at least another fifty years. Writing in 1933, in the depths of the depression, Arthur Cousins noted in his book on the northern rivers that:

Even today, on the Mann River, some folk are winning gold by dredging and washing.22

Bariy Adams' father, Sid, told him that at this time the unemployed would often collect their rations at Dalmorton police station and then go fossicking in the area. 23

In 1980-8 1 Little River Goldfields N.L. took an interest in these old goldfields. The company commissioned a study into the viability of restarting production in the area. As part of their investigation a historical report was completed by G.N.Kater & Associates (see Appendix 1). This report gives an overview of the history of mining in the area and a summary of the activities of each mine. It indicates that most mining activity in the area took place between the I 870s and the first decade of this century. The two biggest ventures seem to have been the Little Dora Mine on Cherry Tree Creek and Tower Hill (Perseverance Reef). From a brief investigation of primary reports this summary seems to be accurate. Further research is needed to ascertain whether or not the consultant's conclusions concerning the cessation of mining in the area are correct.

Mining in the area was probably more lucrative than official reports indicate. The miners were efficient tax-evaders. Taylor's mine, for example, reported no production.24 This may have been correct, but the family stayed in the locality for many years and made a living from various ventures. They owned the only, albeit small, piece of freehold land in the vicinity of Cunglebung. Kater comments on this non-reporting of finds in his report.25 The Surprise mine, which did report production in 1898, was also identified as Taylor's. Taylor seems to have been one of the small operators who was bought out by capitalists. Kater's report indicates that Taylor's claim on Cherry Tree Creek had the deepest workings (18 metres) but

Page 18 Mining

then as the operation became more expensive it was taken over in 1887 by the Little Dora Company. In the next couple of years they undertook expensive capital works.26

Taylor never escaped the lure of gold. He was according to Barry Adams,

getting enough colours down Cunglebung Creek to get him through the depression. I can show you where he used to camp instead 0/walking home ajier he did his days work. There was about three miles difference from where his family lived and where he worked.27

Taylors are still remembered in the district. Mrs. Emily Taylor's lonely grave site can be seen under an apple tree on their old freehold land. Her son Horace had a mail run from Dalmorton to the Mann River. He did the trip once a week, past the Blacksmith's Shop, following the Dinner Creek track, and stayed overnight at the old Cunglebung pub.28

Sly Grog and Local Legends

This was probably a sly grog shop catering for the needs of the miners. Although there are records of numerous licensed hotels in Dalmorton and Buccarumbi in the I 870s when the gold fever was at its height, there is no record of one at Cunglebung. Keith Watters remembers a building adjoining the present Cunglebung hut when he first came to the area in the early 1940s. He believes that this served as a hotel and recalls the 'pine board used for the bar and the gold counter were still there at that time'.29 The existing building was the sleeping quarters.

The legend of one unlucky miner, known as Mangey, is still told at Cunglebung. Mangey had been down at the pub and was riding home to his hut up Wellington Creek. He was impaled on a low hanging branch of a tree and was found lifeless the next day by a passerby. He was buried by his mates on the point of the spur that comes onto Quarantine Point.30 The flat where he was killed has been known ever since as 'Mangey's Flat'. His grave was marked by a round post at each corner when Jack Marsh showed Keith Watters the site in 1938. All trace of the unfortunate man's resting place has since disappeared.

Jack Marsh told Barry Adams stories of 1000 miners working around Wellington Creek. Quarantine Point, it is said, takes its name from the necessity to isolate the Chinese miners who had contracted an infectious disease. The presence of the Chinese on this goldfield is also indicated by stories of a wheelbarrow track, cut out of the side of the hill beside the river, by which they took supplies up the rough terrain where no other vehicle could go, from Little Dora Mine to Jackadgery.31

In the MA there is still extensive, although unobtrusive, evidence of mining. It is said to be dangerous to ride along both sides of New Scrubby and Old Scrubby Creeks because of the extent of old mine workings.32 Mine races, shallow diggings, the occasional galvanised iron structure and exotic fruit trees can still be seen (see photos pp20-23). Jack Marsh told Keith Watters about his first tantalising encounter with some of these.

When Jack was eight or nine (in about 1876) he and his family walkedfrom Cooraldooral over the main range and down into Cunglebung. Vhen they came

Page 19 Mining

Down Wellington Creek there were orange trees there and the children were very thirsty. They wanted to have an orange and their fat her said they wouldn't. They must belong to someone.33

This not only indicates that Jack's father had unbending scruples, probably to the detri- ment of his children's well-being, but that there were exotic fruit trees around Wellington Creek as early as the 1870s. These were probably planted by the miners.

Gold Rush Towns

The goldrushs had a big albeit temporary, impact on what is now DSF. The district surrounding this forested country where cattle roamed and men dug for gold saw the development of a number of villages which are now little more than names on a map. On the 'Little River', close by the richest mines, Dalmorton was surveyed and an impressive plan completed in 1873. Buccarumbi, on the 'Nymboida River' was surveyed in 1871 and Newton Boyd on the other side of the mountain pass the same year. These towns were raw, roistering gold towns. They were also strategically positioned on the Old Glen Innes Road so they were located on a busy thoroughfare until the Gwydir Highway was opened in 1961. The construction of the Bawden and Buccarumbi Bridges in 1875 not only facilitated the passage of travellers but was also a public acknowledgement from a distant government that this road was of vital importance.

Photo: RJ Williams Taylor's Gold Mine northern side of Cunglebung Road.

Page 20 Mining

Phjtos showing lie low-level effects of mining in the MA

Photo. FJ Wilt anis Lenin ani Green Pea:F trees iii clearing on Wellington Creek opposite junction with Old Scrubby Creek.

Photo: Id WI! i'nns Reiains o• old iiiiers' hct on Wellington Creek opposite junction with Old Scrubby Creek.

Page 21 A'Iin ng

Photos showing the low-level effects of mining in the MA

Photo: RI Williams A clearing, showing some of the lemon trees on Wellington Creek Opposite junction with Old Scrubby Creek.

Part of a water diversion chan- nel constructed along south side of Wellington Creek

a

Photo: R.1 Williams

Page 22 Mining

Photos showing the low-level effect of mining in the MA

mv

fll

:1 Zr pqa

4:

I MrV

.-- PIotu RI Williams Remains of old miners' hut in Wellington Creek opposite junction with Old Scrubby Creek.

TF , I i -", I;

Photo: RJ Williams Part of water diversion channel constructed by gold miners along south side Wellington Creek

Page 23 Mining

Endnotes

Mining 1Law, 4037 2T&CJ 1 June 1872, p688 3ibid 4T&CJ, 8 June, 1872 5ibid, 22 June 1872 6ibjd 7ibid, 21 Sept 1872, p367 8ibid 22 June 1872, p783 91bid, 1 Sept 1872, p367 10ibid 11ibid, 21 Sept 1872, p367 121bid 19 Oct 1872, p494 13ibid 14ibid 21 Jan 1873, p119 13ibid 16ibid 30 Nov 1872, p687 17ibid, Ja, 1873, p174 18M 22, Dept of Mineral Resources Annual Report compilation, 1875-1950 19ibid 20jbid 21 ibid 22Cousins, A, The Northern Rivers of NSW Shakespeare Head Press Ltd, 1933, p59 231nterview with Barry Adams, 13 April 1993 241(ater, G N, Historical Data on Early Mining Operations in the Dalmorton District, NSW, between 1860 and 1942, Nov 1981, Greg Kater & Associates Pty Ltd, p24 25ibid, p1 26jbjd p13 27B Adams, op.cit. 28J Marsh to K Watters 29K Watters, op.cit. 30J Marsh to K Watters 3 1 K Watters to R Williams 32K Watters to R Williams 33K Watters, interview

Page 24 Timber

TIMBER

In the I 830s, when the presence of cedar getters was first recorded on the Clarence, this product was an important export for the colony of NSW. It was at this time, according to Bolton, that the 'idea of Australian timber as a commercial asset became strongly entrenched in men's minds'.' Naturally this idea was the motivation behind the exploitation of the district's timbers by timber-getters. It was also to be the driving force behind most of the decisions made by the FC. From the 1930s onwards the occasional lone voice was heard expressing a concern for the environment, but this issue was seldom given priority.

Cedar

The move of the cedar cutters into the more mountainous country away from the coast has not been as well documented as their depredations on the coastal rivers. Kass indicates that anecdotal accounts support the view that some cedar getters moved higher into the hills to obtain the less accessible cedar. Others began cutting hoop pine along the rivers and others settled down and began farming in the area that they had rid of the inconvenient trees.2 It is certain that cedar was cut in DSF but exactly when is not known.

It would be fair to assume that exploitation of this resource reached a crescendo at the time of the goidrushes, that is the 1 870s. As miners used the plentiflul wood supplies for mining, canny operators moved in to cut out the red gold while others grubbed for yellow gold. Perhaps the same people tried their hand at both occupations. The 1907 Royal Commission into the timber industry reveals something of the activities of this industry in the previous thirty years. Although DSF is not referred to directly, surrounding areas are mentioned and, it could be assumed, that this was the pattern of activity in DSF as well.

The forest guard from Glen Innes, for example, stated that since the turn of the century 20000 s.ft. had been cut out of a brush on the 37 Mile Creek and that a 'considerable quantity' had been taken out before that.3 John Cartmill, a farmer and timber-getter of Nymboida indicated that when he first began in the industry in about 1880 he was 'drawing cedar' but since about 1890 the cedar had been 'exhausted'. He claimed that since then only the odd tree had been drawn but 'there might be a few trees in inaccessible places, but it will not pay them to bring them out'.4 When Love, the assistant forester at Urunga, reported on DSF in 1921 he wrote that 'I saw stumps in many of the pine gullies of cedar trees that had been marketed in years gone by'.5

Deverell's reports of 1922 and 1923 for the FC makes several references to evidence of cedar getting in previous years.

There is an indication of the difficulties of working this terrain and the routes that were used. In his first report, for example, he noted that:

The spur running through portions 2 and 3 in Parish of Springbrook is an old cedar track used by cutters hauling cedar out of Downfall and Cedar Creek6

Page 25 Timber

P.6 / SKETCH OF CREEKS .o AREAS SHOWN fL' IN FOREST ASSESSOR F. 0. DEVERELL'S REPORTS N. N. 1,2,3. 4-922/23. COUNTY o GRESHAM $:Mj60

PQE. OntoCy (STEa AaOOSfl iT

A

Sketch of creeks and areas shown in Forest Assessor F D Deverell's reports No. 1,2,3 & 4- 1922/23. County of Gresham. Prepared by E. D. G. Vester, August 1963.

In his fourth report he noted that:

operations in the cedar have been carried out in (Star Light Gully) and I understand that the outlet for this was by the spur... thence along the main range to Wintervale.7

Finally, in his third report which deals with the MA he reported that cedar was taken out of the area by going up the spur in Reedy Creek taking 'teams two days (with 32 bullocks) to get over the hill which is only a distance of four miles'.8

Although the cedar was soon exhausted there were (and are) tiny pockets of it remaining. As recently as 1956 Bany Adams and Ted Smith brought out a load of cedar from Dinner Creek to Buccarumbi for the Turnbull family.9

Pa€e 26 Timber

Hoop Pine

After the cedar supplies had been exhausted the timber cutters began exploiting the massive reserves of hoop pine found in DSF and on the Clarence and Richmond Rivers generally. This valuable timber came from the same areas as cedar and was used for house building, plywood and butter boxes.'° There were thirty bullock teams working on the Nymboida- South Grafton Road in 1908, presumably carrying hoop pine." John Cartmill told the RC, probably with reference to the area covered by Boundary Creek SF, that he began drawing pine in 1884

getting eight shillings per lOOft for it, and we were getting it at the side of the road, then we reckoned it did not pay us and we knocked off drawing pine.' 2

His final comments may reflect some of the price fluctuations which occurred in the I 890s depression.

Hardwoods

From the 1 880s There was increasing recognition of the value of North Coast hardwoods' for various types of construction work.'3 Blackmore & Associates' report indicates some of the expenses and difficulties of logging areas not close to cheap and reliable transport.'4

Small bush sawmills were common. By the time of the RC hardwood timbers were being extensively exploited but not at this stage in DSF.

Royal Commission into the Timber Industry

The Royal Commission was initiated because of concerns for the future timber reserves of the state. The views expressed have little in common with the environmental awareness of the 1990s. It was the concern for the future of a resource that had initially been considered inexhaustible but whose finite nature was now obvious to most thinking people. Throughout the RC hearings the tension is ever present between the needs of Closer Settlement and the needs of the timber industry. The FC was not yet in existence and responsibility for the portfolio had been shunted around since the 1 870s when the first moves to conserve forests were made.'5

First Forestry Reserves

The year 1871 has been described as the one in which the first step for forestry was taken in Australia.16 This year saw the creation of the first timber reserves on the Murray and the Clarence. The latter is shown on the 1873 County of Gresham map. It was located east of Newton Boyd on what is now mainly freehold land, but takes in a corner of DSF. This is roughly the area that the lessees of Cunglebung Run tried to have removed from their holding in 1884. On the 1906 County of Gresham map this, one of the first of Australia's timber reserves, is not marked. The RC proceedings make it clear that the revocation of timber reserves was not unusual. If land was considered suitable for agriculture than it was made available for closer settlement. This procedure reflected the lowly status of forestry as, until

Page 27 Timber

sit.." ILI . , '.. .. I5TWI .— ,

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t&ItO.tDME.tDOWS t7 WLWGTON

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- ©l: IT - V L)-. PROCLJME same M.LMQ - •-. 6 - C1MEPl6sEp73- -. CPdtr scui ' - "5.- - • I4C.1AL'ACtj Ross UMB •l_ ) o -ti -

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hell Library County of Gresham map, 1873, showing Clarence Forest Reserve, Little River Goldfield and TSR 263.

1916, a branch of the Department of Lands. The land in the Clarence Forest Reserve was not taken up for agriculture but it is possible that once all the timber was cut out the reserve was revoked. This procedure was done with ease, whereas the revocation of a state forest was more cumbersome. -

Page 28 Timber

Deverell's Reports

The first detailed material which indicates something of the histoiy of logging in DSF was a series of reports completed in 1922 and 1923 by an 'assessor', F.D.Deverell. These reports and other related files have been very useful in writing this report. Some of the files leading up to the assessment have not been available. Luckily, however, a summary was made of some of these in 1963 which gives some indication of the background to the assessment.

Clearly, as indicated with the RC in 1907, it was the tension between the need to conserve timber and the demands of Closer Settlement which forms the background to Deverell's assessment. This was a particularly emotive time, in the wake of World War 1, when soldier settlement schemes were being devised with good intentions but not a lot of logic. There is no evidence that DSF was being considered for soldier settlement. It was, however, certainly being considered for Closer Settlement, although under which legislation is not clear. Perhaps the Crown Lands Consolidation Act of 1913 (under which the old Cunglebung Run was eventually broken up in 1938) was the relevant legislation. All the FC summary of the files indicates is that Commissioner Jolly 'minuted that he had discussed the matter with the DF; that he did not wish to block genuine settlement but that the timber values on the area were considerable'.17

In 1921 the Department of Lands asked the FC to identify the areas which they wished to retain to be marked on a diagram (this has not survived). A surveyor from the Department of Lands had inspected the area and reported that the timber was mostly only suitable for fences and outbuildings and had no other commercial value.'8 Assistant Disthct Forester C.O. Love did his own inspection and concluded:

I am of the opinion that the disposal of the designed blocks is objectionable in (sic) Forestry interests.19

He continued that he 'absolutely disagreed' with the surveyo?s assessment of the value of the timber.

The ironbark alone on this country is suitable for any purpose to which this fine timber is put.2°

He also stressed that the potential value of the pine was immense once the problem of distance to markets was solved. Love's report did not simply consider the current situation but also attempted to project the future needs of the industiy. If, he argued, crown leases (with the right to convert to freehold) were allowed

it would probably mean handing over to afew the right of disposal or destruction of the fine timber on this country, the revenue from which should rightfully go to the Crown.2'

The importance of hoop pine in his assessment is obvious:

its wealth of pine should not be lost to the Crown as this district derives a large proportion of its revenue from hoop pine.22

Page 29 Timber

The District Forester concurred with this assessment especially in view of the shortage of hoop pine in other areas.23

In July 1922 the FC asked the Department of Lands to agree to the dedication of Portion 8, Parish of Springbrook to protect it from conversion (to freehold). The Lands Department replied that an inspection should be carried out.24 This was the background to Deverell's reports on DSF. It was a detailed survey in rough countly and the mode of operation was described as 'all pack camps with hard living'. The District Forester predicted that the 'work will be tedious and long and I anticipate difficulty will be experienced in getting the men to stay.125 The preparations for the job reveal the steepness of the terrain and the lack of communication. The amount of time devoted to the assessment (over a year) also indicates how important the area was considered, that a study of this depth should be attempted.

The reports reveal that the area had been logged for cedar and pine. In some areas pine logging was in progress or just about to begin. In the area dealt with in the first report (see map) sections 6,7,8 had either been logged for pine or were currently being logged. Report 2 noted pine operations 'some years ago in the creek at Devil's Elbow' and previously in Section F with operations about to start in section E. His fourth report noted no logging other than cedar getting; very little of the much sought after pine, but there was a variety of hardwood.26

Report 3, dealing with the MA, concluded that No operations have been carried out on the area except for cedar cutters years ago'. At Pine Creek good pine was noted but 'it will be years before any operations take place in this locality'. (The pine was in fact cut out 20 years later.) This area was summed up thus as:

countiy being useless except for gra:ing in good times I think it would be just as well to hold it for the timber.27

Despite this assessment, the acting District Forester in Urunga, taking a minimalist approach with regard to the MA, wrote that there is 'no area of good timber sufficiently consolidated to warrant reservation for SF purposes.'28 He noted the inaccessibility of the area but suggested that the pine area in Pine and Reid Creeks should be covered with timber reservations pending its removal. Therefore, rather than taking a long term view, as did Love, he supported the short term expedient of exploiting the area for its timber and then dispensing with it.

Because Deverell's report was not as enthusiastic as Love's the latter was asked to explain the discrepancy. He made it quite clear what his philosophy was:

My idea in representing this area so enthusiastically was to prevent such large areas being disposed offor settlement without a knowledge of their timber value.29

Beginning of Dalmorton State Forest

He had achieved his aim. A detailed assessment of the area had been made and as a result of this the nucleus of DSF was eventually created in 1927 and four forest reserves in 1926. (Two of these reserves are in the MA) Before these dedications, TR 55353 was proclaimed on 9 Nov. 1923 in the Slaughtering Creek area.30 Although the documentation surrounding

Page 30 Timber this dedication has not survived it seems clear that it was designed as a temporary measure. Once it was cut out the reserve was revoked in 1929. The report into this revocation indicates that the pine had been logged in about 1925 and all that remained was 'some good cedar' that was too difficult to get at. At the same time the western part of TR 57253 was revoked as well. There was another revocation in 1929 of an area north of Dalmorton. This, it was claimed, had been dedicated by mistake and was now needed for 'future settlement requirements.'3'

Bullockies

The 1920s and 1930s were hectic ones for the timber industiy. Assessments were done of the area by the Department of Lands before the gazettal of the DSF and the forest reserves. These reports are not available but the 1963 summary of them gives some insight into logging operations at the time. The operations referred to, supervised by the forest guard at Grafton, presumably were in the areas which were dedicated in 1926 and 1927. The problems of access to the timber, often found in steep terrain, was a constant problem. The bullock teams lumbered along the Old Glen Innes Road through Dalmorton, taking a month to do the round trip. This was the main access but sometimes timber was taken, by the same road, to the mill at Newton Boyd. The old road through Cunglebung Run was also used to take out hoop pine from Baffle Creek, between Dinner Creek and Reedy Creeks, across the Nymboida River at Doboy Crossing.32

Helen Hannah gives a comprehensive picture of the work and conditions of timber workers and bullockies in Forest Giants.33 Of particular interest in this case is her interview with Sid Adams who was at one time a stockman on Buccarumbi Station and then a bullocky with his own team. His was one of the teams reported as operating in the vicinity of Buccarumbi in 1922.34 Sid told his son Barry about the families living on 40 acre blocks, which they could convert to freehold, all along the Old Glen Innes Road. As Barry said:

It gave them the right to have a home, afew head of cattle and say 'Well, we're home for Christmas and we've got a bit ofgrassfor our bullocIcs 35

Obviously this was where many of the local bullockies settled. Their acquisition of land was the result of one of the closer settlement acts, but which one is unclear.

There was a constant need for grass and water for the working bullocks. This was one of the reasons that the Cunglebung route, with plenty of both, was popular. In 1934 the lack of timber operations was blamed on the 'shortage of feed for working stock' in the vicinity of FR 57254. In 1922 Deverell had advised the FC not to allow the Department of Lands to dispose of 22 acres that had been applied for near Buccarumbi. This was land used for grazing for the bullocks and if it were alienated it would mean 'anything from 16 to 20 teams going out of the trade in this locality'.36

Barry Adams was working with bullocks until 1957 ('All Adams were bullockies, says Barry. It was in the blood') but it was unusual at this time. Changes in technology were already apparent in the 1930s. In 1934, for example, FR 27254 & 27255 were considered to be beyond the limit of profitable haulage'. At the same time in other places, once also considered inaccessible, logging was becoming a viable option. That same year R.Williams

Page 31 Timber

Section of Coffs Harbour District Map - first edition 1965 showing section of Dalmorton State Forest Dedicated 1927 and Forest Reserves 57253-56.

was planning to 'get out 80000 ft of pine in a difficult place, which will be obtained by mechanical means ... (he) has the machinery on hand for the purpose'.37

Page 32 Timber

The Closer Settlement Issue

In 1935 the issue of Closer Settlement was again threatening FC interests. In that year the Department of Lands told the FC that all 'unsecured lands' in the area were under consideration. This also threatened the interests of pastoralists. Turnbull Brothers expressed their fear that they might lose their lease 'if it were thrown open for selection'. Love again showed his concern for the future by commenting that except for DSF and the tree reserves that:

the balance of the area did not warrant retention in Forestry interests but that, in the aggregate it carried a considerable volume of timber.38

He also drew attention to the need to retain timber cover in the interests of protection (from erosion). The beginning of an awareness of the serious environmental problems that Australia was facing now surfaced in the controversy between the two government departments over the question of land use. The land in the tree reserves that was under consideration was described by the FC as 'rough and mountainous and that alienation would pave the way for ringbarking, firing and consequent erosion and flooding.139 It was felt that a combination of cattle grazing and protection forest was the best land use for the area.

The FC demanded that the area in question should be assessed professionally. Such an assessment was set in train but while it was being undertaken the Department of Lands began disposing of land except for that under direct FC control.40 This was the tthrowing open' of the area that is still talked about and which broke up Cunglebung Station.

Nevertheless, in 1938 the assessment by forester W.Poole proceeded. It broke new ground by using aerial photography for the surveys. The map accompanying the report also shows the limits of contemporary technology.4' The forests in the MA were beyond their ability to successfully log at this stage. Poole's final recommendation in 1939 was that:

it is essential that the mountain forests in this locality be preserved owing to the steep, rugged nature of the country where the denudation of the forest would possibly have serious consequences.42

Hoop Pine Logging in the Moratorium Area

The first logging of the MA, other than the early cedar getting, occurred during World War 2. Doug Scott, at the age of fifteen, got his first job logging hoop pine there. VB Trapp & Co. of Coffs Harbour had, according to Doug, the job 'of supplying hoop pine under the Essential Services Act to the Armed Services'. Doug was 'off-siding on a tractor'. The log hauling was done with winches; then a tractor took the log to where a truck could load it.

It was virgin scrub. You couldn't cut a tree down unless it went six feet girth, chest high, and zfyou did you were in terrible trouble.43

The workers camped out in the forest for six week stretches. Doug recalls how he came to town four times the first year.

Page 33 Timber

J'noio: V ..aaa,ns Sid Adams with bullock team on Old Glen Innes Road at foot of Bucarrumbi Range. These four Hoop Pine logs come from the one tree in Gulf Creek, Dalmorton State Forest, 1923.

You didn't get bored We did a bit offossicking. Jack Marsh told us where to look, fossick, how to pan.44

Hardwood Logging in the Post War Period

The first application to log hardwood in DSF was made in 1931 by R.G.Williams of Newton Boyd. He wanted to build a house for himself and cattleyards and intended to have the timber drawn to Sheep Station Creek mill and then have it cut up and returned to Wintervale.45 This successful application was obviously for a specific purpose. After World War 2, however, hardwood logging began in earnest in the parishes of Urania and Spnngbrook. The Riverview Timber Co.Pty.Ltd. started operations in 1954 and did road construction in conjunction with this from 1956 to 1961. Barry Adams cut timber for this company for a few years:

up till the depression of 1961... Then they said, 'Barry, you'll have to stand off. Things is got pretty hard' which it was. 46

Page 34 Timber

FORESTRY COMMISSION Popers H.O. 1.228 DIAGRAM OF N0 1. EXTENSION TO DALMORTON STATE FOREST N9811.

PARISHES OF BAROOL, BOYD, COWAN, CUNGLEBUNG, QALMORTON, SPRINGBROOK, URANIA & WELLINGTON JJ - COUNTY OF GRESHAM SCALE 1:126720 SUBJECT AREJ SHO; THiJ; sr s'oa .i}cwN :ii.s .. '---- JIVEJ? iinaoi

/ I coo t1 - ProeJ&nec ) 7 - 4 6

- I — Ce

73

K1DAL.ORTôñ \ 4 )6I5 'Und Sal BOYD '•' U ILL J -t T•- ' W RES ç

•.- . - '

Ir

:V)fl' Map of Dalmorton State Forest showing extensions from 1962-1980.

It is a good indication of how hard the 1961 credit squeeze effected the timber industry for one of the workers to refer to it as a 'depressions. The economic problems of the local industry at this time have not been investigated in this report.

Page 35 Timber

The following year No.1 Extension DSF was dedicated. This was the Poole's Creek area just north of the 'village' of Dalmorton. This first extension to DSF was made for 'watershed protection and boundary consolidation purposes', according to a 1958 FC report on the area.47 The need to protect the forests from erosion was becoming increasingly obvious.

Dalmorton State Forest Grows

In the early 1970s, as other forests were cut out, the FC began investigating the timber potential of the crown leases and the area surrounding the MA. At the same time the Co- ordinated Meat Company, of Grafton expressed an interest in acquiring a number of leases from Turnbulls and converting them to freehold. With the exception of some land near the town of Buccarumbi the FC refused this request because of the marketable timber on the land. Forester Lunda's detailed assessment of each of the leases is an interesting comment on the economic considerations of the 1970s. He wrote, in relation to Sp/L 39/42,

When attempting to determine the best land use for land such as this the fact that our annual import bill for timber products being in excess of $200 million (and increasing) must be weighed against the gloomy future of agricultural pursuits and their value to the national economy.48

Other FC staff agreed that the area in question should be dedicated as SF. District forester H.J.Hanson wrote in 1973

I cannot emphasise too strongly the need to have the area covered by this report dedicated a state forest. It comprises a large volume of prime hardwoods needed to maintain timber supplies, to a sawmill and pole treatment industry at Grafton, requiring some 30 million s.ft. p.a. to remain viable. The NPWS have acquired adjoining areas, and no doubt before long will turn their attention to this area.49

In July 1974 Extension No.2 DSF was dedicated. This was an area in the Parish of Cowan just north of Cunglebung Creek.

Secretary A.Cocks argued that more extensive areas should be dedicated so that emphasis would be placed on forestiy and less on grazing rather than the reverse, as it was while leases were held under the Department of Lands.50 In the next few years another 35297 hectares were added to DSF. In 1975 DSF Extension No.3 and in 1977 Extension No.4 (the MA) were gazetted and the final part of DSF (Extension No.5) was included in 1980. Files relating to these dedications have not been made available. There seems, however, to have been a consistent policy since the early 1970s. Firstly, the need to service the local and export timber industry was paramount and secondly, a wariness of the NPWS was often in the background. This last consideration became more marked after the election of the Wran Labor government in NSW in May 1976. This government set about a program of extensions of national parks which the FC saw as hostile to their perceived interests.

Selective hardwood logging began in the MA in 1978 and in association with this the construction of a road network was undertaken. ¶Roading and logging is complete on the eastern, southern and south western sections', according to FC sources.5'

page 36 Timber

Endnotes

Timber 1Bolton G, Spoils and Spoilers, George Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1981 2Kass T, Regional History of the North Coast, Dept of Planning, Grafton, 1989 3Royal Commission on Forestry in NSW (1908), Final Report, Sydney, Govt Printer, evidence given by N Stewart, Forest Guard, Glen Innes, p599 4ibid, evidence given by J Cartmill, Nymboida 5FCF, 2347/1, Love, C 0, 14 Nov 1921 6FCF R67, Deverell, F D, 3 May 1922, p4 7ibid, 7 May 1923, p4 8ibid, 23 Dec 1922, p1 9B Adams, op.cit. mBlackmore, op.cit., p20 t 1ibid op.cit. 13Blackinore, op.cit., p20 14ibid, p21 15ibid, p19 16Carron L T, A History of Forestry in Australia, ANU Press, Canberra, 1985, p5 17FCF R483 18ibid 19FCF 2347/1 20ibid, p2 21ibid, p2 22ibjd 23FCF R483 24ibjd 25FCF Enclosure 22/80 26FCF R67 27ibid p6 28FCF R483 29FCF Enclosure 23/217 30FCF R483, p3 31FCF 27/1065 32FCF R483, p3 33Hannah H, Forest Giants, FC of NSW, Sydney, 1986 34FCF Enclosure 22/80 35B Adams, op.cit. 36FCF Enclosure 22/80 37FCF Enclosure 31/527 DO 38FCF R483, p4 39ibid,pp4&5 40ibid, p5 41FCF R482 42FCF R66, p7 43D Scott, op.cit. 44ibid 45FCF 31/1168 46B Adams, op.cit. 47FCF A89, I C Dawson, 29 Jan 1958, p3 48FCF Report by J Lunda, 30 Dec 1971 49FCF Report by H J Hanson, 6 April 1973 50FCF 4228 (LAD) Report by A R Cocks, 29 Aug 1974 5 1 R Williams, DSF, Notes for Grafton Forests EIS, p7

Page 37 Conclusion

CONCLUSION

The rugged, forested landscape of DSF has been the scene of human activity long before white people cam to the area. The roads and tracks through this area have been used since the first days of European settlement on the Clarence and perhaps for years before. The main economic activities in DSF - grazing, mining and timber getting - used these arteries to facilitate their enterprises.

The part of DSF north of Cunglebung Creek, the MA, was only acquired by the FC in 1977. Here grazing has continued almost uninterrupted since the 1 860s (possibly the 1 840s), while mining and timber getting have been more sporadic activities. The physical evidence of these industries is widespread but often unobtrusive, it has been the aim of this report to outline the European disturbance history of the area and to demonstrate that human activity in the MA has resulted in changes to the vegetation and other low level modifications to the environment. A quantitive and qualitative assessment of the nature of these changes is beyond the scope of this report and would necessitate the use of different research tools.

Page 38 Bibliography

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Baker D W A, 'The Origins of the Robertson's Land Acts', in Historical Studies, Australia & New Zealand, Melbourne Urn Press, 1967

Bawden lectures, The First Fifty Years of Settlement on the Clarence, CRHS, 1987

Blackmore K & Associates, Grafton, Casino & Murwillumbah EIS European Heritage Historical Report, Sept 1992

Bolton G, Spoils and Spoilers, George Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1981

Canon L T, A History of Forestry in Australia, ANU Press, Canberra, 1985

Cousins A, The Northern Rivers of NSW, Shakespeare Head Press Ltd, 1933

Farewell G, Squatter's Castle, Lansdown, 1973, Melbourne

Hall R & Lomax K, An Archaeological Assessment of the Grafton Management Area, FC of NSW, April 1993

Hannah H, Forest Giants, FC of NSW, Sydney 1986

Hanson W, The Pastoral Possessions of NSW, Gibbs, Shallard & Co, Sydney, 1889

Kass T, Regional History of the North Coast, Dept of Planning, Grafton, 1989

Kater G N, Historical Data on Early Mining Operations in the Dalmorton District, NSW between 1860 and 1942, Nov 1981, Greg Kater & Associates Pty Ltd

King C J, An Outline of Closer Settlement in NSW, Govt Printer, Sydney 1957

Law R C, Historical Notebooks, CRHS

Walker R B, Old New England, Sydney Uni Press, 1966

Newspapers

Clarence and Richmond Examiner

Daily Examiner

Town and Country Journal

Page 39 Bthliographv

Miscellaneous

Registers of nm boundary files - Clarence district, AONSW 8/2204

The Return of Crown Lands held under Pastoral Occupation of 1865 to the Legislative Assembly of NSW

The Tirst Annual Report' upon the Occupation of Crown Lands of 1879

Parliamentary Debates, NSW Legislative Assembly, Debate on Closer Settlement Bill, 1937

Royal Commission on Forestry in NSW (1908), Final Report, Sydney, Govt Printer

Page 40 Appendix I

Appendix 1

Historical Data on Early Mining Operations in the Dalmorton District, NSW, between 1860 and 1942

Greg Kater & Associates Pty Ltd, November 1981

Page 41 G S1987 119

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LITTLE RIVER GOLDFIELDS N. L.

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10 0 /0 20 '''

Scale 1:500000

' '°°'°' by &e7 Kctcr 2 occeci 4rd HISTORICAL DATA ON EARLY MINING OPERATIONS IN THE DALMORTON DISTRICT, N. S. W. BETWEEN 1860 and 1942

By: G. N. KATER NOVEI"2ER 1981 B.Sc. M. Mis. I.M.M. GREG KATER & ASSOCIATES PTY. LIMITED GS19S1 502

INTRODUCTION:

Little River Goldfields N.L. contr.o'ls an area of about 880 square kilometres held under Exploration Licences in the Dalmorton district west of Grafton in Northern N.S.W.

Gold was originally discovered in the district during the 1860's and mining continued throughout a widespread area in alluvials and in numerous reefs at shallow depth until 1942, when all activities ceased except for gold panning by fossickers.

This report is based on various technical reports, annual reports from the N.S.W. Department of Mineral Resources and Development, reports from newspapers and journals, published and unpublished literature and several visits to the area between November 1980 and November 1981. '.j S.- •-• -, •1 -

HI STORY

Gold was first discovered in the Dalmorton Gold Field during the 1860's in alluvial deposits in tributaries of the Little and Mann Rivers. The most activity occurred around Pine Creek, Frenchman's Creek, Sheepstation Creek and Quart Pot Creek in the south, Jackass Creek, Dirier Creek, Sweeney's Creek and Cunglebung Creek in the central portion of the field and at Wellington Creek, Cherry Tree Creek and along the Mann River in the north.

In 1871, the discovery of a large reef of quartz (the Union Reef carrying visible gold at Quart Pot Creek south of Dalmorton led to a gold rush in the following year during which over fifty reefs were uncovered and worked to varying degrees. By the end of 1872 the town of Dalmorton was reputed to have grown to a population of tens of thousands of people supporting four churches and many hotels. The main period of mining activity occurred between 1872 and 1873 however the total production of gold before 1875, when the N.S.W. Department of Mines first kept records, is not known but may have been more than half a tonne of gold, mainly from alluvials. Between 1875 and 1942, when all mining ceased, estimates based on official records (486.5 kgm. of gold), reports, newspaper items and battery returns, place production at approximately 550 kilograms of gold, of which 190 kgm. came from alluvial mining, 322 kgrns. from reef mining around the Little River and 38 kgms. from the Mann River. Much gold was never reported; for example, the Mining Registrar coented in 1883 that certain prospec- tors operating north and south of Dalmorton seemed contented even though they insisted they could not find any gold. It seems likely that, including unreported production, total gold won from the entire area was between one and two tonnes.

- 1 - GS19S1 502

Altogether more than eighty reefs were worked throughout the field, however most mining operations failed owing to inexperience, lack of capital, disagreements and disputes, bad management, metallurgical problems in gold recovery, lack of water for crushing or heavy water flows at depth, and the high costs of carting ore to stamper batteries and of crushing. Crushing charges were usually the equi- va.lent of 8 gm. Au/tonne (as also were average mining costs) and carting costs often two or three times that amount so only high grade ore could be treated, particularly in reefs where lack of capital prevented the construction of adequate water storage and treatment plants on site.

Doci.entation of mining activities is poor, as many of the official records were destroyed at Dalmorton, however reports from various sources concerning some of the principal reef mining operations are still available and these are suarized in alphabetical order below.

1. ABERCROIE:

This reef is 7.4 kilometres north of Dalmorton near the junction of Dinner and Abercrombie Creeks. The main reef was first prospected in 1872 and in 1873 a shaft was sunk to 13.1 metres at which depth it was reported the quartz was richer in gold and was 1.0 metre in width. Drives were constructed both sides of the shaft along the reef at the lowest level. The main reef is about 300 metres long striking at 120° and varies in width between 0.51 m. and 1.0 m. A second reef lies sub-parallel and near to the main reef. Production, if any, in the 1870's is un- recorded. In 1886, a trial crushing of 12.2 tonnes of ore from the main reef yielded 42 gin. Au/tonne and in 1898-99, 15.2 tonnes from the second reef yielded 114 gin. Au/tonne. No work was done in the area after 1900.

- 2 - Si981 502

ABORIGINAL:

This reef cuts Dinner Creek ne.ar the Abercrombie reef and was reported to be 0.41 m. in width and rich in gold. A shaft was sunk (Kenzie's shaft) to a depth of more than 12 metres in 1873 but no production records are available.

ALICE CORNWELL:

Reef about 300 metres long bearing north-east, situated about 7 kilometres south of Dalmorton. Operated between 1890 and 1894 but no reports available.

BARNEY'S HILL:

This reef is located on the high plateau north of the Little River, west of Cunglebung. The reef is several hundred metres in length and reputed to be wide. A shaft was sunk to 18 metres depth and 145 tonnes mined in 1914-15. No production records.

BLACK JACK:

Situated about 8 kilometres south of Dalmorton on Chandler's Creek near Campbell's Creek, the main reef varies between 0.3 to 0.65 metres in width over about 700 metres, striking at 100. The main lode was reported as well-defined and "showing gold freely," and was discovered in 1889 and operated to a depth of 15 metres by the Excelsior Gold Mining Syndicate until 1891, when it was taken over for a short period by the Chandler's Creek Amalgamated Company. At least six other reefs run paral- lel to the main reef, one of which was worked to a depth of five metres.

BLACK SLATE CREEK: This was an important mine situated at Mount Swain about 9.5 kilometres in a straight line south of Dalmorton. About thirty reefs, varying in width between 5 cm. and 1.25 m. occurred over a length of 500 metres bearing 20°. Between - 3 - PS.981 O2

1889 and 1893 the mine operators erected a 10-head stamper battery and an aerial tramway, sunk two shafts to depths of 15.2 and 9.1 m., constructed several tunnels and produced 24.7 kgrns. of gold from 332.9 tonnes (74 gm. Au/tonne). In order to develop lower grade ore an effort was made to raise additional capital and in 1895 an attempt was made to float a company on the London stock market. Capital raising seems to have been unsuccessful as operations did not restart except for limited work by tributors in 1898.

BLACK SNAKE:

The location of this reef is unknown, however a company was floated to mine the reef in 1896.

CALLIOPE:

This reef is located about 5 kilometres west of Dalmor- ton at Oakey Creek near the Isabella reef. In 1889 a well defined reef one metre wide was located and a tunnel was driven on it. The average grade was apparently too low at the time and work ceased.

CARBINE:

This reef is located near Dalmorton township and was worked during the early 1870's. It was described as a large reef but low grade (15 gm. Au/tonne). A prospecting tunnel was driven 61 metres along the reef in 1897 to 1898 however the grade did not improve and by 1900 all activity had ceased.

CRUS}D DOG:

This reef is at Cunglebung north of Dalmorton. In 1898, 20 tonnes of quartz were crushed for a yield of 9.3 gm. Au/ tonne resulting in losses and the prospect was abandoned.

- 4 - ri OQ1 cr\'? LL. .4. .)U.J- j

CUNGLEBUNG REEF:

This reef is at Cunglebung north of the Little River and was reported to be 0.45 in. in width. A trial crushing in 1877 yielded only 11.2 gin. Au/tonne and no further work was done. Shafts were sunk on nearby reefs in 1873 the Christmas Box (15 in. depth) and the Golden Crown, but only small quantities of quartz were stockpiled and no crushing done.

EAGLE HAWK:

This reef strikes at a bearing of 15° over 200 metres and is situated at Chandler's Creek 400 metres east o the Black Jack Reef. The reef was prospected to shallow depth however no reports are available.

EXCELSIOR:

The Excelsior Reef is located north of Chandler's Creek about 7.5 kilometres south of Dalmorton. It extends over a strike length of about 700 metres bearing at 115° and is shallow dipping (reef width 0.3 in. to 0.6 in). A second reef to the south, the Excelsior Extended strikes east-west over about 350 metres with a reef width of 0.3 in. in 1889, 10 toriries of quartz was sent to Sydney for a trial crushing. The results were reputed to show yields of 150 to 180 gin. Au! tonne. During January 1890 analyses from selected samples taken from 18 metres depth showed values up to 1200 gin. Au! tonne. Although a battery was erected in the area, no mining was conducted except by tribtors who, in 1893, selectively mined 114.8 toriries of ore which yielded 5.7 kgms. of gold (50.1 gm/torine).

FLORIDA: Little is known about the Florida Reef which was first discovered in 1889. It bears at 100 over approximately

- 5 - 300 metres in length and is just north west of the Garden Hill reef. By January 1890 a shaft had been sunk to 12 metres and the reef at this depth was reported to be ex- ceptionally rich.

15. GARDEN HILL:

Three reefs occur in this area about 6.1 kilometres south of Dalmorton - the Garden Hill, the Chicago and the Little Barbara. The Garden Hill reef is about 475 metres in length bearing at 80°. West of the Garden Hill reef is the Chicago reef about 225 metres long and also bearing at 80°; the Chicago and the Garden Hill may be parts of the same reef slightly displaced by faulting. Early assays of samples from the Garden Hill and Chicago reefs showed values up to 155 gm. and 215 gm. Au/tonne respectively. The Little Barbara reef to the south bears north-east over more than 100 metres.

11 The Garden Hill reef was first discovered in 1888. The reef is large and well defined and several shafts were sunk to depths of 17 metres. A trial crushing of a few tonnes yielded 75 gm. Au/tonne, however a second trial crushing of 30 tonnes yielded only 15.7 gm. Au/tonne which was very low grade in those days and a great disappointment for the lease holders. Little was done until the leases were taken over in 1891 by the Chandler's Creek Amalgamated Mining Company, which drove a tunnel along the reef and intersected a rich ore shoot within the reef after 45 metres. The company crushed 366.8 tonnes of ore from the shoot for a return of 16.27kgm. of gold atari average grade of it•5 gm./torlrle. In 1893, however, the company sold all the equipment and cleared off the ground. The following year, with govern- ment aid, individuals sunk a shaft on the reef to 43 metres depth (the deepest shaft, by that time, in the whole district

- 6 - and at that depth struck a zone within the reef yielding 46 gm. Au/tonne. After that, work ceased probably due to lack of capital and difficulties with water at depth.

GOLDEN GATE:

This reef is one of a ntber of reefs operated during 1872 to 1873 on the south side of Little River to the east of Dalmorton. Other nearby reefs included the Morning Star, Florence Irving, Charles Dickens and Krohman's reefs. These reefs were described as varying between 0.1 m. and 1.0 m. in width and, except for rich patches which were gouged out, varying in grade between 12 and 30 gm. Au/tonrie.

The Morning Star produced gold at shallow depth from a reef averaging one metre in width and grading in excess of 30 gm/tonne. In January 1873 a tunnel was coenced at the level of the Little River to intersect the reef at depth, however by May 1873 the cost of driving, owing to bad manage- ment, was so prohibitive the tunnel was abandoned at 10 metr The Charles Dickens reef was 0.61 m. wide showing free gold in a shaft 9 m. deep sunk in 1873. The Golden Gate reef formation included a vein 0.23 m. wide withvisible gold at a depth of 7.5 m.

GOLDEN HILL:

This reef is located inthe vicinity of the Excelsior and Magpie reefs. The reef is flat-lying and was reputedly easy to work. A test crushing in 1891 or 30 tonnes yielded about 60 gm. Au/toririe and up until 1893 a further 176.2 tonnes yielded 11.7 kgm. of gold at an average grade of 66.5 gnl./torine. Mining was probably selective and the average grade of the whole reef is not known.

- 7 - S1981 5

GOLDEN HOPE:

This area ia located about 4.5 kilometres west of Dalmorton with several reefs worked by a comwany. Trial crushings in 1891 averaged about 33 gm. Au/tonrie however funds ran out and the company was liquidated. Selective mining by individuals in 1892 produced 9 torines yielding 58.75 gm/tonne but no further work was recorded.

GOLDEN SPUR:

This reef is located on Pine Creek about 1400 metres downstream from the Maximilian reef west of Dalmorton. It extends over more than 200 metres striking south-east. It was reported that the reef varied in width between 15 cm. and 46 cm. at surface widening to around 1.25 metres and carrying rich coarse gold in a shaft sunk to a depth of 41 metres in 1872. This was the deepest shaft sunk through- out the district in the 1870's. Crushing of quartz from th Golden Spur took place at Dalmorton in April, 1873 but no records of yields are available.

GREENSIEEET'S:

The reef was discovered in 1903 about 2.5 to 3 kilo- metres south of Dalmorton. A bulk sample of 4 tonnes was sent to the Cockle Creek Smelting Works for treatment yield ing 15 gm. Au/tonne. The owners persevered for a time in the hope that the grade would improve with depth but firiall gave up, probably through lack of funds.

HAWKEYE:

Information on this reef is very limited. It is knowr that a trial crushing in 1895 yielded 39 gm. Au/tonne but

- 8 - no activity followed until 1897 when the reef was worked for a short while by tributors.

HERCULES:

This reef is located about 3 km. south-east of Dalmorton and is also known as the Sir Hercules or Hercules Robinson. The reef strikes at 1100 over several hundred metres, dips to the south, and varies in width between 0.25 in. and 0.65m. The reef was originally worked in 1872 and a trial crushing of 1.5 tonnes yielded about 30 gin. Au/tonne, however no work was done until 1883 when a total of 37.5 tonnes of ore yielded 1.46 kgm. of gold (38.9 g. Au/tonne). In 1889 a shaft was started but no further reports are available.

HIBERNIAN:

This reef is located 3 kilometres west of the Tower Hill mine and about 2 kilometres northwest of Dalmorton. The original mine was about 100 metres from workings on the Australian Chieftain reef. The Hibernian reef was worked during 1872-1873 and two shafts were sunk to 9m. and 12 in. depth. The reef is a chocolate colour gossarious rock containing quartz veins run- ning through it and was one metre in width at 12 m. depth getting wider and richer with depth. A significant quantity of reef material with strong gold mineralization was stock- piled at surface and the property changed ownership in May 1873. There are no records of crushing. The nearby Australian Chieftain reef was worked during 1873, a shaft was sunk to a depth of 6.5 metres, and, although some ore carrying visible gold was raised, none was crushed.

HO'EWkRD BOUND:

This reef is about 11 kilometres by road east of Dalmor- ton and was mined in 1873. 144 tonnes were reported to have been crushed yielding an average recovery of 19.6 gin. Au/tonne which was only marginally economic. The reef has an average - 9 - /

width of about 0.5 Lu. (varying between 0.3 in. and 1.0 m.).

ISABELLA:

This reef, to the south of the Golden Hope area, is about 240 metres long striking east-west. Development work on this reef used government aid and included about 50 metres of driving along the reef which averaged 0.41 in. in width. Payable gold values and rich specimens were reported in ferruginous quartz but no mining was reported. A larger parallel reef was discovered nearby and a shallow shaft was sank but no further information is available. Samples of reef quartz recently observed in the field contained some visible gold.

JACKASS CREEK:

The major reef line, located 2.6 kilometres north of Dalmorton, extends east-west over a distance of about 300 metres. Two reefs, known as the BPhemian and the Victoria were operated in the 1870's; they junction at a similar bearing and may be parts of the same reef formation. The zone was discovered in 1872 and a trial crushing, conducted in Sydney, in early 1873 yielded 650 gin. Au/tonne. The reef was described as strong and well-defined, 0.25 in. in width and very rich with gold showing freely. Although some rich quartz was stockpiled, the operators encountered difficulties in having ore crushed and ceased activities in 1873. The costs of mining, carting ore to Dalmorton and crushing were equivalent to 8 gin. Au/tonne, 24 gin. Au/tonne and 8 gin. Au/tonne respectively. An additional reef close to the Bohemian reef, known as the Chieftain, was also worked in 1873 and again, although some ore carrying rich gold was raised, none was crushed.

In 1886, the area was taken over by the New Bendigo Company which erected a two head stamper battery. A Trial crushing was started however work ceased when one of the principal shareholders was accidently killed. No further -10- GS1981 50

activity took place, except in 1898 when a small patch of very rich alluvial was worked just north of the reefs.

JUST-IN-TI1:

The location of this reef is south-east of the Union reef and about 4.7 kilometres south of Dalmorton. Little is known about it except that a shaft was sunk to 9 metres depth in 1886 and 24 metres of driving along the reef was completed. Only high grade gold specimens were extracted.

LADY JERSEY:

This reef is located close to Chandler's Creek and was first discovered in 1891 on the side of a very steep hill, known as Lady Jersey Hill. Five experienced miners first worked the reef at surface and a trial crushing of 4.93 tonnes of quartz yielded 32.8 gm. Au/tonne. At surface the reef is sometimes over 12 metres in width. A Sydney syndi- cate purchased the lease in 1892 and a tunnel 31 metres long was constructed striking the reef 37 metres below the surface at which depth the reef was more than 3 metres wide surrounde by soft iron-stained slate. The values of gold in this portion of the reef are reputed to have been low (10 to 12 gin. Au/torine) and the syndicate withdrew. No further activi- ties are known to have taken place.

LADY ISABEL:

This reef was one of the early reefs discovered near the Mann River in 1882. The prospector's (Sneath and Party) reported good gold values, but an attempt to raise capital was apparently not successful. By comparison with the areas around the Little River, access into the Mann River area was very difficult and costs of carting equipment very high. LAST CHANCE:

The location of this reef, south of Dalmorton, is unknown. A battery was erected in 1905 by the owners, Mulligan and Ford, and a shaft was sunk to a depth of 18 metres. Tunnels were driven along the reef at the 9 m. and 12 m. levels. The reef averaged 0.65 metres in width and 76 tonnes of ore yielded 3.3.8 gm. Au/tonrie. The reef at the bottom level had recoveries less than 30 gm. /tonne and work ceased in 1906.

LIBERATOR:

This reef is situated about one kilometre so'th-east of the Isabella reef to the west of Dalmorton and had been operated during the early 1870's. In 1873 the reef was described as a "fine wide reef" rich in gold and some of the ore was said to have yielded as high as 218 gm. Au/tonne. In 1877 the reef was re-opened and 70 tonnes of quartz were stockpiled utilizing a shaft 14 metres deep. The stockpile was estimated to have an average grade in excess of 30 gm. Au/torme, however the cost of carting the material to a battery proved prohibitive. The reef is about 300 metres long and strikes at 105°. In 1889 government aid was granted to deepen the shaft to 45 metres however reports only state that it reached a depth of 16.5 metres.

LITTLE DORA:

The main reef (sometimes called the Lady Emily Reef) strkes at about 65° crossing Cherry TreeCreek 800 metres south of the Mann River. It can be traced over about 1000 metres, dips at 60° to 70° to the south east, varies in width between 0.3 m. and 1.0 m., and is cut by several narrow "leaders." The reef was discovered around 1883 and

- 12 - until 1886 various groups worked portions of the reef to shallow depth, the deepest workings (18 metres) being on "Taylors" claim. In 1887, the Little Dora Company took over and between 1887 and 1889 constructed a tunnel and roads and erected a stamper battery. Costs were high, how- ever in 1888 about 215 tonnes of ore yielded 8.62 kilograms of gold for an average of 40 gm. Au/tonne. Mining on surrounding claims were reported to have recoveries as high as 60 g/tonne. In 1889 a crushing of 152 tonnes recovered only 13 gm. Au/tonne leading to losses and work was suspended; the reef material was reported to be "heavily charged with pyrite." In 1891, a new group took over the lease and changed the name to the Adelaide Mine, however they encountered difficulty in treating the rock which contained pyrite, silver, galena and arsenopyrite, and recoveries were poor.

In 1896 a new group, the Little Dora Syndicate, took over and spent significant capital, constructing an aerial tramway for ore cartage and adding a "Woodbury" concentrator (which is still in the area) to improve recoveries. By 1897 trial crushings gave good returns, the mine was being opened up more intensively and more milling machinery was ordered. In 1898, 462 tonnes of rock were crushed yielding 17.6 kgtns. of gold (38.1 gm./tonne). By this time costs of landing goods and machinery to the site were becoming prohibitive and operations ceased. It is, also likely that the presence of suiphides below the oxidized zone lowered recoveries of gold (tr&atment was relatively primitive compared to metallur- gical methods today).

It is of interest to note that prospectors were reported to have found a reef of quartz near the Mann River containing arsenopyrite and galena with values of gold and silver up to 830 gm/tonne and 1470 gm/torme respectively, however they refused to give the Mining Registrar at Dalmorton any inf or- mation. - 13 - 1.PS1 502

During a recent visit to the area it was noted that most of the old workings at the Little Dora Mine have collapsed and the reefs were covered. A few chips from a reef (0.4 in. width at this location) about 500 metres north- east of the main workings assayed 2.10 gin. Au/tonne; this sample would not be representative of the reef however the value is anomalous. The quartz was very hard and contained no visible suiphides at this location.

LONE STAR:

This reef was the second reef worked in the district, after the Union, and is about 800 metres south-west of the Union reef and about 3.5 kilometres south of Dalmorton. The reef is more than 150 metres long, striking nearly north-south (3450 bearing) and averages about 0.5 in. in width. During the 1870's a shaft had been sunk to 10.5 metres and 59 tonnes yielded 30.6 gin. Au/tonne. A darn and crushing plant were being constructed but, according to E.F. Pittman (1880), capital was exhausted owing to "reckless" expenditure and bad management and the mine was closed. Between 1880 and 1885 work was conducted by a Mr. Jackson intermittently and 30 to 40 tonnes was raised, but no record of crushing is known.

MAGPIE:

This reef is about 7.4 kilometres south of Dalmorton and strikes north-easterly from the Magpie Range for about 400 metres. Numerous workings are present along the Range which trends east-west over 1200 metres, however the only recorded work is on the Magpie reef. The reef is narrow (about 6.5 centimetres) but produced high values. In 1889, 4.35 tonnes of reef material were crushed yielding 1.84 kilograms of gold (426 gin. Au/tonne). No further information is available except that some work was being done in 1891.

- 14 - MARSHALL'S:

This reef was discovered as late as 1910 near Spring- brook about 12 km. to the west of Dalmorton and apparently 61 tori.nnes of material yielded about 3.6 kgms. of gold (approx. 60 g./tonne).

MARY'S HOSE:

This reef is located about 700 metres north west of the Lone Star workings, striking 3450 over about 200 metres. The reef is 0.5 m. in width. A shaft was sunk to 9 metres in depth in the 1870's but no rock was crushed.

MAXIMILlA!:

This reef strikes north-south over more than 150 metres in length and is just west of Pine Creek and about 3.1 kilo- metres south westerly from Dalmorton. In 1872 a portion of the reef formation, containing a quartz vein 0.3 m. wide, was worked but no production figures are available.

MCRA.E'S:

This was one of the first reefs worked in the Mann River area. It was reported. in 1882 that a shaft had been sunk to 13 m. depth and 3 m. of driving along the reef, which was 0.9 m. wide, had been completed. It was reported at this time by the Mining Registrar that he had not visited the area as the last 11 kilometres into the Mann River was "unrideable." The prospectors seep to have experienced simi- lar difficulties as they survived for some time taking only very high grade specimens out of the area for crushing.

- 15 - S19S1 5O

MOSQUITO CREEK:

This reef is about 35 kilometres by road north-west of Dalmorton, and was discovered in 1898. The reef was 0.38 in. wide at surface, thickening to 1.25 in. at a depth of 4 metres. Scarcity of water made crushing difficult at this time, how- ever in 1898, 13.2 torines yielded 51.3 gin. Au/tonne and in 1899 41.7 torlries yielded 62.5 gin. Au/tonne. In 1900 some rock was crushed yielding 35 gin. Au/tonne, but it is not certain how much.

MOUNTAIN MAID:

This reef was discovered in 1888 and is about 1000 metres east of Garden Hill, south of Dalmorton. The reef strikes south easterly over about 300 metres and varies between 0.6 in. and 1.5 in. in width. In 1889, 65 tonnes of quartz was crushed yielding about 30 gin. /tonrie. An attempt was made to raise capital for development but was apparently unsuccessful as the grade was considered only marginal.

MOUNT POOLE:

In 1891, the discovery of a number of high grade gold reefs at Mount Poole near Frenchman's Flat at Spring- brook 12 kms. west of Dalmorton and close to the road on the north side of the Little River, caused a minor gold-rush in the district and the establishment of a town at Spring- brook . At least five major parallel reefs known in order as Jiy's, Borinar's, Snake, Marvel and Kerry reefs, all carrying gold, were uncovered and worked along line by three companies - The Mount Poole Gold Mining Company, Mount Poole Marvel Gold Mining Company and Mount Poole New Era Gold Mining Company.

- 16 - r'1 --' _•)

The Mount Poole G.M. Company encountered more logis- tical difficulties than the other companies and was not as successful, and often applied for Government aid. The company did however construct a tunnel cross-country which intersected Jiy's and Bonnar's reef and encountered Snake reef, reported to be 1.7 m. wide at the end of the tunnel (91 metres) which was completed in March 1893 after nearly two years of driving. It is 1own that some shallow shafts were sunk and about 70 tonnes mined from Snake and Bonnar's reef however little else is known. More information is available concerning the other two companies which follows.

42. MOUNT POOLE MARVEL:

The Mount Poole Marvel Gold Mining Company was formed in 1891 initially to operate the Marvel reef, near Mt. Poole, which was reported to be 0.76 m. wide at surface and 1.32 m. wide at a depth of 5.2 metres. Initially bulk samples from the 5 m. level were sent to Sydney for test crushings; 4.32 tonnes of quartz yielded 90.4 gm. Au/tonne, and 1.83 tonnes of rubble yielded 127 gm. Au/tonne. Further test crushings, conducted at Dalmorton, of reef material taken from a depth of 10.5 metres yielded 413 gm. Au/tonne from 11.96 tonnes. In 1892, 167.6 tonnes yielded 5 kgm. of gold (30 gm. Au/tonne) and 300 tonnes were ready for crushing. By 1893 five reefs were being worked, a new spur-road to a public crushing mill at Springwood had been constructed and the mine was being developed with the intention of providing 250 to 300 tonnes per month to the mill. Kerry's reef was developed to a depth of 7.3 m. where the reef formation was 1.07 in. in width consisting of a quartz vein 0.43 in. wide carrying massive pyrite and a little free gold, and the remainder consisting of brown iron-stained gossan carrying free gold. The Bonnar;s and Snake reefs, about 45 metres west of the Marvel reef, are close together and the quartz vein material

- 17 - extracted from the reef formations was reported to be 0.46 rn. and 0.51 m. wide respectively. No specific information on Jiy's reef is available, however it is known to have been one of the widest reefs and a large amount of quartz from this and the Marvel reef had been stock piled by mid 1893 ready for crushing. Difficulties seem to have been encountered with the public battery at Springbrook which in 1894 was removed to Coramba N.S.W., where rich discoveries had recently been made, virtually closing all activities except for some work the same year by tributors who had to cart ore 25 km. to the nearest battery.

MOUNT POOLE NEW ERA:

The Mount Poole New Era Cold Mining Company started work on the various reefs at Mount Poole in 1891 and two test crushings yielded 32 gm. Au/tonne and 107 gm. Au! tonne. Reefs tested were the Marvel and the New Era the latter varying in width between 0.38 m. and 1.07 rn. Litigation over the ownership delayed operations for more than a year but was decided in favour of the company which then raised additional capital. In 1893, 59 tonnes of ore taken from a tunnel into the New Era reef, yielded 97.8 gm. Au/tonne. Later in the year 406 tonnes of ore yielded 25 gm. Au/tonne. In 1894, the mine was idle, having encountered similar problems to those of the adjoining Marvel company. In 1895, it was reported that 20 tonnes of quartz was crushed and a yield of only 8.6 gm. Au/tonne was recovered. The mine was abandoned soon after.

MOUNT RAE:

A nber of sub-parallel reefs striking generally north south were prospected in the early 1880's, about 400 metres west of Cherry Tree Creek, south of the Mann River. The S19S1 502

main line of reefs extends over a distance of 800 metres through Mount Rae, the main reef formation varying in width between two and four metres; other known reefs have widths of 0.2 m. to 1.1m.

Owing to the high cost of carting ore and lack of treatment facilities, no quartz, except for selected high grade specimens, was crushed until 1891 when a group of prospectors (Rae & Party) reported good gold, one crushing yielding 250 gm. Au/tonne. In 1893, the mine at Mount Rae was taken over by another group, Co.sgrove and Brennan, who crushed 58 tonnes for a yield of 53.7 gm. Au/tonne. In 1895, the property was purchased by an English syndicate who, the following year, f]Dated a company (Mount Rae Gold Mining Company Ltd.) on the London stock market. A ten head stamper battery and other machinery were erected and the main reef developed with a work-force of thirty to forty men. The company held three gold leases (6.1 hectares) covering a north-south strike length of 430 metres.

During 1897, 745 tonnes of quartz was crushed, but the returns were "not up to expectations." In 1898, 711 tonnes of quartz yielded 6.47 kilograms of gold for an average of only 9.1 gm. Au/tonne, which was reported as being "not nearly sufficent to pay expenses." Percentage recovery of gold was probably poor and such yields meant the company sustained heavy losses, so the mine closed down and, except for limited prospecting activities in 1908, was never re- opened.

45. MO liNT REMARKABLE:

Several reefs were discovered at Mount Remarkable near Sheep Station Creek north of the Little River about two

- 19 - kilometres north-east of Mount Poole. A tunnel was driven 84 metres along a reef 0.3 metres wide bearing northerly and about 120 tonnes were mined; 19 tonnes were crushed yielding 127 gin. Au/tonne. The yield of the remaining tonnage is unrecorded. In 1895 the mine was reported to be turning out payable stone and in 1896 another tunnel was being cons- tructed with Govertment aid. Mining continued sporadically until 1911 when a second reef was opened up about 40 in. from the first reef and a shaft was sunk. This reef was up to 1 in. wide and could be traced over 125 metres in strike length, bearing at 70° and dipping at about 60° south easterly. The major activity at the Mt. Remarkable mine occured between 1936 and 1941 when 694 tonnes of ore yielded 14.12 kilograms of gold (20.3 gin/tonne). A "clean-up" in 1942 of 41 tonnes yielded 4 gin/tonne; at that time it was reported that about 500 tonnes of tailings were stockpiled averaging 4.7 gin. Au/tonne.

A recent channel sample taken over a one metre wide section of the second reef at the face of the lower tunnel was analyzed at 20 gin. Au/tonne. The reef consisted of argilla- ceous rock with a number of narrow quartz veins. A channel sample 15 cm. wide near the end of the upper tunnel gave a value of 11.7 gin. Au/tonne (footwall and hangingwall samples went 0.58 and 0.55 gin. Au/tonne). A grab sample of black slate from mullock near the crosscut adit leading to the lower tunnel showed a value of 0.44 gin. Au/tonne. A grab sample recently taken from a stockpile near the first reef, above the second reef workings, gave a value of 58 gin. Au/tonne.

46. NIL DESPER.ANDtJM:

This reef is located close to Springbrook, west of Dalmorton and was discovered in early 1893. The reef formation is 0.6 in. wide and was reported to be carrying

- 20 - 'I '

gold in payable quantities. It strikes north east across the bedding, whereas all the other known reefs nearby at Mt. Poole are conformable with the bedding of the country rock. No reports of-mining,if any, are available, however it is known that the removal of the public milling battery at Springbrook in 1894 caused the demise of mining activities at Mt. Poole, so it is probable the reef was never developed.

47 PINE CREEK: The Pine Creek reef, about 2.6 kilometres south-west of Dalmorton consists of a near-vertical lode of siliceous iron- stone extending east from Pine creek over about 500 metres and was prospected by the Occidental Gold-mining Company in 1899- 1900 with several tunnels, shafts and cross-cuts to determine the size and grade. 25 tonnes were sent to the Cockle Creek Smelter Works for cyanide treatment tests, however results showed about 12 gm. Au/tonne. Over a period of about two years several trial crushings were conducted on reef material from many parts of the reef and gold values were found to be very even over an average width of 4.6 metres though too low to be payable at the time—varying between 9 gm. and 12.5 gm. Au/tonne and averaging 11 gm. Au/tonne. The owner's still intended to try to operate in a large way with extensive machinery, however all attempts to raise capital were apparently unsuccessful and activities ceased in 1901. A large sample of suiphide-bearing siliceous rock taken in 1981 from broken rock surrounding the main shaft was analyzed at 10.6gm. Au/tonne. Recent field work to the west of Pine Creek indicates the lode could extend over at least 3000 metres.

48. PIONEER:

This reef is located north of Dalmorton near the "Scottish Chief." It was first worked in 1872-1873 and later in 1892 when 10 tonnes were crushed for a yield of 65.3 gm. Au/tonne.

- 21 - !

REGINALD:

The main reef crosses Cherry Tree Creek 1400 metres south of the Mann River (600 metres south of the Little Dora reef) and extends from there a distance of 650 metres on a bearing of 65° towards Mann Peak, dipping 60° to 70° south-easterly. Various prospectors worked portions of a reef about 50 metres north of and sub-parallel to the main reef during the 1880's. Part of the main reef, east of Cherry Tree Creek, was worked during 1907 to 1910 by Brown and Mc Master who erected a small stamper battery. In 1908, 49.8 tonnes of ore was crushed returning 37.5 gm. Au/tonne and in 1909, 69.1 tonnes yielded 47.3 gin. Au/tonne. A considerable amount of development work had been done and in 1909-1910 the lessees endeavoured to raise additional capital so that operations could be expanded to a larger and more economical scale.

It is apparent that efforts to raise capital were not successful and activities ceased. The gold price at that time had weakened and gold ventures had generally lost favour with investors.

SCOTTISH CHIEF:

This reef is located in the ranges north of Dalmorton close to Jackass Creek. In 1877 a trial crushing yielded about 30 gin. Au/tonne, however the operation was abandoned owing to the difficulty and expense of carting ore to a battery in the south. This fate befell other nearby reefs including the Pioneer (mentioned above), Ben Bolt, Victoria, Chieftain and Heatherbell reefs some of which had gold grades in excess of 60 gm/tonne. Activity at the Scottish Chief was revived in the late 1880's and by 1891 a 10 head stamper battery and water dam had been completed at the site. work

- 22 - t. .- 1 . ._ 'iL1c.,

coenced soon after and 46 tonnes yielded 17.6 gm/tonne, a lower grade than expected. Mining ceased soon after.

SMITH'S:

This property near Cungleburig, not far from the Abercrombie reef, north of Dalmorton was first worked in 1873 by four different groups. The major reef, Smith's reef, averages two metres in width trending east-west, junctioning with another wide reef running north-south and close to four other reefs with varying strikes. In 1873 a shaft was sunk to 17 metres on Smith's reef and two shafts were sunk on a nearby richer reef (Kelly's) from which some ore gave a good return in mid-1873. Later that year an air-shaft was sunk on Smith's reef and over 200 tonnes of quartz was raised and stock-piled. No stamper battery operated close by, however in 1874 several hundreds of tonnes of quartz from Smith's reef was carted to a stamper battery and yielded an average of 7.86 gin. Au/tonne. The yield did not even pay for the crushing costs (approximately equivalent to 8 gIn. Au/tonne at that time) and all activity ceased. In 1880, the area was visited by E.F. Pittman (Government Geological Surveyor) who described Smith's reef as "an iense mass of stone."

STOCKYARD CREEK:

This reef is situated at Stockyard Creek 13 1xs. (straight line) south of Dalmorton, however little is known about it. It was originally worked by a syndicate from Hiligrove, N.S.W. in 1897 and in the following year various items of machinery were erected and a road constructed. The only reported production was in 1899 when 40.6 tonnes yielded 28.35 gin. Au/tonne and in 1900 the mine was abandoned.

- 23 - ST. PATRICK'S:

The St. Patrick's reef, located 3.7 kms. south from Dalmorton, east of the Union reef, strikes at a bearing of 115° over about 350 metres. It was first worked in 1872 and later during 1885 but no production records are available.

SURPRISE:

The Surprise reef is located near Curiglebung, north west of Dalmorton. The only reported production was in 1898 when 10 tonnes was crushed yielding 33 gin. Au/tonne.

SWiTZERLAND:

The Switzerland reef is located at the head-waters of Wellington Creek, 6400 metres up-stream from its junction with Curiglebung Creek. The reef is 15 centimetres wide, bearing 5° and dips at about 60° to the east. The reef was reported to be very rich;, large blocks of reef- quartz, put on display in Grafton in January, 1873, were "thickly impregnated" with gold, however, owing to logistical difficulties no material was ever crushed. However, the reef is notable for the fact that the areas downstream from it were te scene of very active alluvial mining during the 186 and 70's. Alluvial washing was known to continue on a limited scale into the 1880's.

TAYLOR'S:

In 1907 a prospector, Taylor, who had previously been active further north in the Maim River, discovered two reefs at Ctmglebung one of which yielded good values, but no production was reported.

- 24 - - 57. TOWER HILL:

The Tower Hill or Perseverance reef was actively mined during the early 1870's and prior to 1875 was reported to have crushed 2069 tonnes of quartz yielding 68,195 grams of gold (33 gin. Au/tonne) however at relatively shallow depth (20 metres) heavy water flows were encountered and mining ceased. The reef strikes at 105° and was averaging 0.77 metres in width at the lowest level. A fault off-sets the reef and most mining activity was conducted on the western side of the fault where the reef can be traced over more than 100 metres. On the eastern side of the fault the length of reef is unknown but grades were slightly higher. A number of parallel reefs were worked averaging 23 to 32 gin. Au/tonne, notably "Webb's line of reef, 0.6 in. wide, from which 119 tonnes were reported to yield 27.2 gin. Au/tonne; this line of reef is located about 90 metres north of the perseverance reef. Gold from the various reefs at Tower Hill was produced from ferruginous quartz, and below the water-table high quantities of suiphide (mainly pyrite) were encountered.

In March, 1877, the Clarence Pioneer Quartz Mining Company was formed to construct a tunnel to intersect the main Perseverance reef 75 in. to 85 in. below the level of the top of the Tower Hill shaft. After tunnelling 147.4 metres the company ran out of funds and work ceased. Except for a parcel of one tonne of selected quartz sent to Sydney for treatment (yielding 1555 gin. Au) no further work was done until 1881 when the Tower Hill Company resumed extension of the tunnel. From this time until 1894 an amazing saga of intermittent capital raising and mismanagement, diverted often by periods of mining "leaders", saw the tunnel extended to a total length of 335 metres without achieving its object- ive of intersecting the main reef. The tunnel, in fact, ran parallel to the reef for some distance.

- 25 - S19S1 502

In 1913, a crosscut was driven about 24 metres, apparent- ly in the wrong direction, to intersect the reef, and no further work was conducted until the period 1936 to 1939 when different individuals raised a total of about 14.5 tonnes of ore from a depth of about 15 metres in the old workings yielding 0.59 kgms. of gold (40.7 gin. Au/tonne). No signifi- cant activity has occurred since that time.

UNION:

This reef discovered in early 1871 was the first reef operated in the Dalmorton Goldfield and is located at Quart Pot Creek about 3.1 kilometres south of Dalmorton, and at surface averaged 0.46 metres in width, over about 200 metres, with a strike of 80°. In 1873, the Triumph Company constructed a tunnel 45 metres long to intersect the reef at depth and 91 tonnes of quartz from a shaft 27 metres in depth, yielded 37.6 gm. Au/tonne. In 1883, the Union Company sunk five shafts at various parts along the reef varying in depth between 7.5 in. and 40 in. at which latter depth the reef had widened to 1.1 metres. From stopes between the 36.5 metre level and surface 75 tonnes yielded only 21 gin. Au/tonne and although work con- tinued in subsequent years no further production figures were reported until 1886 when only 0.81 kgrn. of gold was recovered from 114.8 tonnes (7.04 gin. Au/tonne) and the company was wound up.

WARCRY:

This reef is situated close to Chandler's Creek south of Dalmorton. The only reported production was in 1891 when 18 tonnes of ore yielded 41.5 gin. Au/tonne.

WHITE'S:

This was a newly discovered reef in 1904 about 4.5 kilo metres south of Dalmorton. The reef encouraged the owners to

- 26 - erect a three head stamper battery, however a test crushing of 10 tonnes yielded only 28 gm. Au/tonne and activities ceased.

WILLIAN TELL:

This reef is located 650 metres north of the Little River, about 3.6 kins. north-westerly from Dalmorton and extends about 200 metres bearing 100°. The reef was worked during 1872 -1873; a shaft was sunk to a depth of 21.3 metres and 25 tonnes of reef quartz was stockpiled. It was reported that the reef was 0.62 m. wide near surface, enlarging and becoming more solid with depth. There are no records of any work after 1873, and it is probable the operators lacked the necessary capital to erect treatment facilities.

WONGA:

This reef strikes south-east over about 600 metres in known length. The only information available indicates that a tunnel was being driven along the reef from Chandler's Creek in 1895.

WORKING MINERS:

The location of the Wking Miners reef is uncertain, however it was apparently a wide reef. The only information available is as follows: 1891 - 11 tonnes yielded 105.9 gm. Au/tonne; 1892 - 15 tonnes yielded 49.8 gm. Au/tonne.

- 27 - Appendix 2

Appendix 2

Topographical Survey and Timber Assessment, County of Gresham 1922-23

Reports No. 1,2,3 and 4 by F D Deverell

Page 42

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al

- - .- - / - - .. -. .. . - . - . . -- -•.. /

1 - - . . ...•

Topo Survey & Assessment of Crow' Lands - County of GSHA - File os 2/01,'3993 - 31,'2648 .. -"- 3'01,'235 - T,'C 36,'119 Reports by F.D. vere11 .- No.1 dated 3. 5.1922 No.2 " 21. 6.1922 o.3 23.12.1922 Y M A tt I 1 . .J..2-3 3 €esources Brich Report No. R.67 . •:.- Cve,; waêü - 49'cz4 J ( S1) •

- - I

- • . 4fr- .':-.; S - - . ".• • - - - - - .- - . - . • -. .'• -

436 M &t , 4 ç12 c c

i 'W-- ;5 si* .---- -.---- - - I - - - V P ' -'-1k.-- •'• -,- - - -C. ,4V0 /2IC / Lry Survey Cami Buccarambi, hay, 1922.

Topo Survey and Assessrent of '2rorr Lands, County reshsrn. r1.AP1CW4LOade. No. qi. Dear Sir,

In accordance with your instruction I have completed a Topo Survey of the cuove area in the Parishes of pringbroo,iialrnorton and Boyd, about 3000 acres of this area -vdxa was ccrPleted by ;r. Foret Assessor Dwyer, and from his notes I am including and report upon same. Procedure

Survey of natural fe2tures was effected with compass and chain and the timber values based on personal estirmtes. Situation

The area is situated on the north slue of the Glen limes Grafton road, Buccarumbi is thirty miles from Grafton and hinter Vale is about Forty-four miles.

Markets

At Present the only market for this timber is South Grafton the only timber operated upon is Pine.

Timber Species

The species of timber found on this portion of the area are:- Spotted Gum, Red and \hite Liahogany Bruhbox, Ironbark, Tallowwood, Blue and Red Gum, Stringybark, Bloodwood, pp1e, Forest Oak, and Pine. Sections

This portion of the area has been divided into ten sections and I will furnish hereunder a description of each. Section 1

This section was dealt with by hr. Forest Assessor Dwyer. The country is undulating to hilly, fairly open country carrying good grass, the only drawback to this section is the water supnly. The timber stand on this area is splendid the averae stand would be about 7000 ft. to the acre, not only is the matured timber good but the undergirth, pole and seedlings are also remarkable, Spotted Gum predominates followed up by Red and White hahogany Tallowwood and Blue Gum.

9

Undulating to hilly is the formation of this country carrying first class grazing land, the area is fairly, open although along some of the tops the seedlings are very thick. The matured timber on this section is also good the average stand would be about 6000 feet to the acre which would consist of Red and White Mahogany, Tallowwood, Stringy- bark, Blue Gum.

Section 3

This section is known as Jackass. Creek., the country near the mouth of the creek on the north side is very steep and carrying poor timber, the gully marked on the plan as carrying Hardwocd consists of Spotted Gum mostly in the pole stage and undergirth, this is , very fair stand of timber, but the remaining portion of the country is poor and would be very hard to work. The country on the north ofHut ul1js very poorly timbered it consists of a very steep slope from the ridge. The timber along the ridge with J3 and K3 on carries very good Spotted C-urn, White hahogany Ironbark, and Talloww000d but the extent of this class of timber is only ter chains over the fall to Jackass Cree'. The ridge on the south side of Jackass Creek is very

! •/' . 277/ -2- steep open country and the timber very poor, scattered Ironbar1 - will be noticed but to no extent. The only pine in t.is creek is situated in a gully running north of tree R3, I estimate the stand of Fine in this gully would not exceed 15000 super feet, that is the matured pine seedling and pole timber is also very thick in the ully. Then take the area north and west of tree 04, on and about the 1ociity of 04 the country is fairly steep; but at, the same time it is workable, the ridge running to M3 is thick with Spotted Guir mostly in the pole and undergirth stages, Ironbark is also very notiea:ble, the juiJies are moreorless carrying Srushbox but this is a poor class of timber, the spur to F4 carries an unlimited supply of Ironbark poles, then the country west of the ridge going to P4 is also carrying splendid hardwoods, Spotted Gum predominates followed up with Lahogany Ironbark and Talloww000d also Brushbox this class of timber continues rirtht up to the main range, down off 3 a fair stand of 3lue Gum will be noticed, with further reference to the timber, the i.ahogany on the south slopes of the ridge with on is splendid, I have never seen such a fine class of !:ahogany in the i'istrict, I estimate the stand of iahogany alone at 5000 super feet to the acre arni it also carries good Spotted Gum, I estimate the millable timber in the harth.00d areas in Jackass Creek at 80001 to the acre. Section 4 This section was inspected by iv:r. Fore.t Assessor Dwyer. The country is ver;' steep and will be a very hard one to work, the area as shown as carrying hardwoods is only fair timber and the stand would not average more than 3000 feet to the acre, the matured pine in the creek would exceed 300,000 super feet, and a fair stand of pole pine will be seen. Mr. Dwyer reports that it is possible to snig the timber down the creek, he is also of the opinion that after the oine has been removed the area would not warrant being made a State Forest, with this I don't altogether agree as the hardwoods along the slopes are very fair and I think that the proposed boundary as shown by broken blue line would be more suitable. Although taking in this portion it is impossible to make the natural feature a boundary but nevertheless I recorrmend that when the proposed boundary is being consioered that consideration given to the broken blue line. Section 5 This sectLn is very rough and broken, the slopes are very steep the timber stand is very poor, the average would not be more than 2000super feet to the acre, from 41r. Dwyer's notes I sin of the opinion that the country is not worth holding, up near anu X3 the timber is at its best but the stand lls off towards the gully. Section 6

Consists of very steep slopes, tie best of the timber is on the fall from the ridge with S3and 03 on. Spotted :urn predominates with a stand of about 3000 feet to the acre, the pole timber is also very good, this section also carries Fine which according to Lr. Dwyer would not exceed 150000 super feet, he also states that the pole pine is also very plentiful.

Operations in the pine are being carried out in the creek and the cutters have made a snig track up to reference tree k. The logs are snigged to the main road and from this place they load up. Section 7 This locality is known as Black Hcib, Pinecperations have been carried out for about a mile up the creR7 I was informed by the cutters that th- he has got all the accessible pine from the creek, and as soon as he has removed the trees fallen he intended to leave. I asked him why he didn't take the other patch further up the creek, seeing he has made a track so far up and he informed me that he was blocked by a rock and a gulf in the creek to make this workable it would mean an expenditure of about £150 and then th it would not be permaritent, for a s Boon as we had any rain at all the stones and rocks would be washed back on the track. But in any case the pine in the creek would not warrant it, as I only estimate the stand at about -3- 30000 super feet, the slopes from the ridges are very steep and the sur2ace is loose rock, it would be impossible to haul or even snig up the creek, owing to the falls in the creek and to put in a side cutting would be very costly owing to the rock surface. The area marked on the plan as hardwood country is worth retaining and can be worked by the present tracks, this area carries more undergirth and pole timber with Spotted Gum Dreciomineting followed up by Mahogany Tallowwood blue Gum and Ironbark. Section 8

Section 8 consists of steep ridges intersected by deep - gullies which are s ewhat difficult to work; as far as the harawood stand is concerned the area is not worth consixdering. Pine operations have been carried out in all the gullies and within the next three months all the matured pine will be taken. Section 9 Very steep slopes form this section, one of the slopes carries a good quantity of pole pine. j,11 The remaining country is moreorless carrying Spotted Gum, Stringybark, and scattered Ironbark, and Tallowwood. The stand is small and the class of timber poor. It is in my opinion unsuitable for a forest. Section 10

Gulf Creek runs up the middle of this section, the countr,, has oeen rung for about three chains on each side of the creek right up to tree El. Pine operations have been carr.ed out up near Xl to Zl, it is possible to take the waggon to tree El and from there the logs are snigged down to Zl. Most of the accessible pine has been taken from this creek, during the traverse of the creek. I counted (24) twenty-four matured pine trees average them at nine feet girth and a length of eighty feet. From this you will see that a fair amount ofpLne still remains in this creek, but it is so hard to get, at. The only portion of this country carrying timber worth considering is that marked on plan in blue. This carries Spotted Gum, Ironbark, and Tallowwood, the millable timber is poor I estimate the stand no more than 2000 feet to the acre, but it is the pole and undergirth timber that makes the area worth considering, as the stand of Ironbark on the fall on the west of the creek is splendid. The remaining area is very poor, the species found are Spotted Gum, Stringybark, Tallowwood and Brush Box, in view of the timber being so limited, it would mean retaining the whole area, and I don't think that the timber warrants such a procedure. Section 11

The timber on this section is similar to that of section 10, e. it is very scattered, the species noticed are Spotted,Guni, Stringyark Brushbox, Ironbark, and Grey Box, the matured timber is very poor and the stand would not average a 1000 feet to the acre, and the Dresent stand of pole timber is of a poor class. The country consists of very steep slopes with deep gully heads, I do not consider this area is worth retaining for timber, a portion of this area rniht be required for grazing.

Crown Lease 19-46 Portion C, farish Pringbroo: - it was'0ressor Dwyer's intention to recommend this portion in as part of the State Forest, the country is undulating to hilly well grassed and carried sndjd timber of the following species Spotted Gum, 5O Red & White 1ahogany, Tallowwood, Stringybark, and i31ue Cium the Spotted Gum generally Is of a 'good class with fine clear stems ranging from 60 to 80 feet being very plentiful all over the area. The milable timber would average about 7000 super feet to the acre. The oole stand is also excellent also are the seedlings. I know from my own knowledge of this country that it is first class Porest land, and from inquiries 1 was inform•:d that the holder of the lease has paid not rates on same and that it was his intention to forfeit his right to the land. I might mention that no improvements have been made on te land, and if the land is forfeited I strongly recommend that it be obtained for the timber. Roads At the present time it is hard to say what outlets ure required but I will mention three or four that I co:sicier 'ante. The spur running through portionS 2 and 3 in Parish of Sprinbrook is an old cedar track used by cutters hauling cedar out of Downfall and Cedar Creek, it would make a fair track for the teams. Should a Forest be proclaimed in this localit it will be necessary to have a road down the spur on which the old track goes. Itir. Dwyer did not interview the hciciers of the portions, but I expect to be in this locality before the area is comp'eted.

as-. road will be required along the spur with W2 to C, this is a fair 7rade one place is fairly steep but this can ue ot arounu. Another road will be down Telegraph Spur running into Gulf Creek. Then the track from Buccaruinbi to Cunglebung going up spur with V: ,P, and Q on is also required, during an interview with the teamsters they informed me that a better road and grade can be had by this track than the natural outlet via Doboy; rUt at present I am not in a position to voice an opinion n the matter. I sin only sugesting these outlets in case the Comirission decide to dispose of the land no carrying timber, before the whole of the area is completed. Grazing The countryJh Gulf Creek (Ph. 3oyd) carries splendid grazing and is wellwatered, If the ro.d is decided upon in Gulf Creek, it will be necessary .to hold the basin of the creek for grazing. Another grazing area that will be required is at 6uccarumbi at present the teams make this a camp on the journey to and from Grafton, and furthermore if the road from huccarurnbi to Cunglebung is decided upon it will be required for the teams going to Cunglebung, but in any case it will b wanted in connection with the working of the forests further up the road. Present Market Rates As stated before Grafton is the only market for this timber at present. The teams hauling sine do on an average one trip per month, the present market price for pine is 221— and the royalty rate is now 5/— per 100 super. Thecperations are carried out under General Timber License and are supervised by the Forest Guard at South Grafton. Yours faithfully, (sgd.) F.D. Deverell, Forest Assor.

The DiStrict Forester, Urunga. ;i /#o/i/ Copy. Buccarurthi. 21.8.22.

Report No. 2.

Topo Survey and Assessment of Crown Lands, County cresham. Votent'aL oaueNej I i3 . Dear Sir, In accordance with your instruction I herewith forward Plan and report of a Topo Survey of the aliovementioned Crown Lands. Procedure Surveys of natural features were effected with Compass and Chain. The assessments in the case of Harowoods were based on personal estimates. With regard to the pine assessment, this was carried out in the following manner: - The Creek traversed I worked on as a base line, and thenli placing my field hands on each side of the creek, assessing one chain on both sides of the creek myself. In view of the fact that the pine is more or less confined to the Creek, I consider this the best method in arriving at my assessment. Situation This portion of the area is situated within the Parishes of Ounglebung, Boyd and Delmorton, and on the west of the iyrnboida River, and running back to the dividing ridge, known as Doboy ridge. This ridge forms the divide of the Nymboida and Dinner Cfeek waters. Markets South Grafton is at rresent the only market for this timber. Access At the present time there is no workable access to this areZ. The Track shown on the 'lan is only a bridle track, but could be made workable. Two steep pulls are on the track going out from Buccarurnbi, and another pull is coming in off the area. hiany little culverts would have to be cc.nstructed, and with grading the hills, a very fair road could be had. Another access is by crossin7 the river at Doboy and then along the old T.S.R. and coming out on the Grafton-Glen Innes road about 15 miles from Grafton. This outlet is now being used by teams hauling pine from Baffle Creek. The old Grafton-Glen Innes road is shown on plan by red track lines, but this is now all over grown and it is only in places it can be noticed. Timber Species The species of timber on the area are Spotted Gum, Ironbark, Pine, 'Th1te Mahogany, Brush Box, and a small percentage of Tallowwood, Bloodwood, Aple and TurPentine. Sections This area has been divided into sections and a description of each is herewith:- Section "A" This section includes the water shed of Cedar Creek,Camp Basin, and Dingo Creek. -2- Cedar Creek carries fair Spotted Gum, hhite i.:ahogany and Brush box. Along the Creek from Hi to GI the country is open, above Hi the country is fairly open carrying Spotted Gum and Ironbark but the stand is low. The north side of the creek carries the uest ti:!oer. The assessment of the pine is as follows:- 15 Overgirths trees, 6 undergirth, and 50 poles, also L Cedar trees will be noticed with two overgirth and two about

The matured pine DIZ of a poor class rnuuh of it being damaged. The average tree would go 3bout 2,000 super feet,rraking a total of overgirth pine 30,000 super feet. I sin of the o:,inion that 25 per hundred feet could be written off as useless so practically speaking the pine in Cedar Creek is of litta.e importance. With reference to the hardwoods the stand predominates in the unoergirth and pole timber, the average matured timber stand would be about 2,006 feet to the acre, allowing 50 bpotted Gum. Bull, Dingo & Camp Basin

This country towards the gully heads is fairly steep, along the river bank the country is open, making good grazing land. Towards the higher country stringybark poles will be seen but to no extent and along the spurs Spotted Gum mixed with Ironbark ap'ears. The slopes carry Spotted Gum, the stand is the same as that in Cedar Creek, it predominates in the un'iergirth stages. The average stand would be about 2,000 super feet with Spotted (bum predominating, in the shady parts the timber is of a very fine class. The only stand of sine in this locality is in Camp basin and is situated in the right hand branch of the creek. The assessment arrived at is 30 overgirth, 20 undergirth and 14 poles average the matured pine at 2,000 super feet per tree, making a total of 60,000 super feet. Section "B"

This section is the water shed ef boubleumpC reek. The main creek is fairl level, except for the fall uetween Z2 and Fl, this is a steep drop of about seventy feet. The country suove Z2 is undulating to hilly getting steep towards ; and 1.. on the main range. The area is fairly open and the timber is very patchy. Down at the mouth of the creek the country is open on 00th sides, riht up to Dl, this open country is well covered with grass. The country on the north of el1 iiird Gully is very poorly timbered. When you get up under the range in the shady parts the timber is of a better class. Spotted Gum is the principa.i timber.

Take the timber along the track, some oarts of this you will see splendid Ironbark and then cross a gully and on another spur the timber is poor. Spotted Gum predominates with Ironbark and a small percentage of 1e Gum. I think this countr, is about half and half, (half good and half poor). But at the same time I might point out that a very fair stand of undergirth and seedlings will be noticed. I consider that the area would carry about 2,000 super feet to the acre, that is millable timber, and sleeper -timber could also be had.

The Fine in the creek is located about Fl the asse8sment below the fall is 26 overgirth, 50 undergirth and 180 poles above the fall 7 overgirth, 8 uridergirths and 20 poles, making a total stand of 66,000 super feet of matured pint.

-3- Section "c" Diq4i4s 4reeI4 Dights Creek forms this section, hilly to steep is the formation of the country. The timber is very scattered although it improved to a first class stand in the gully heads and shaoy sides. I am of the opinion that this creek carries the best stand of timber, the species noticed are Spotted Gur, ,Thite Iahogany, lronb:;rk Stringybark with brush box in the gullies. The stand like all the prior sections predomintes in the under stazes. I esima.e the millable timber at 3,000 super feet to the acre allowinr' 5C, for Spotted Gum. The Ironbark is more or less in the pole stages but still a few mill logs could be had and also a big percentage of sleeper timber. The stand of young timber increases the value of this section in my mind.

The Pine assessment arrived at is from the mouth of the Creek to Vi carries 20 overgirths, 25 unuergirths and a 100 pole, the right hand branch of the creek from Vi contains 50 overgirthB 48 undergirths and 80 poles, theilly running off the main creek from Ri contains 32 overgirths 49 undergirths and oO ioles. This makes a total of 142 matured trees, I average these trees @ 2000 super feet per tree makinr 2C4000 super feet of millaule pine. AS regards the creek it is very rocky and has many falls in it but as the slopes are faix it would be no trouule to construct slug tracks along the side of the creek and aroung the falls. Section "D"

Stockyard creek is one of the basins in this section and I will report on this first.

The Creek is very open up to i2 and carrying good grass. The south side of the creek is almost open country to the spur top and carries very little timer. Around under K1 and ill SPotted3uin in all stages will be seen predominating in the pole stageG, sca tered Ironuark will also be noticed.

The average stands of hardwoods per acre on this section would be about a 1000 feet, on the foot of the spur with Ti on splendid growth of seediinEs and pole Grey box will be noticed.

No pine of any description will be had on this section <

The underbrush is fairly thick on the section but it opens out Into clear country towards the gully heads and slooes.

This portion carries Spotted u.m, Ironbark, Mahogany and Stringybark. The Ironbark predominates on the sp;tr with Ti on, the stand of hardwoods would average about 2000 feet to the acre. it appears low but this is due to the young growth coming along which is of more importance in this out of the way ilace.

The Assessment of the pine is herewith; 25 Overgirth trees, 38 Undergirth trees and 158 poles, making a total of 50000 super feet of matured pine. Section "i" 8/a'k gnake Creek

This section forms the waterihed of Black Snake Creek ' the creek itself is very rough and consists of many falls of about fifteen feet, this of course makes operations very difficult to carry out as the creek bed would be the natural outlet and another drawback is that the slopes consist of rock so the making of snig tracks would be costly. With reference to the timuer; it certainly does carry good hardwoods on the shady sides of the spurs, on the sunny sides some very Rood Ironbark will be seen but the average stand would be low, ap t from the Ironbark Spotted Gum and Vvhite ,ahogany will also be noticed, the timber located on the shady sides are Spotted Gum, White Mahogany, Stringybark, Ironbark, brush box and Turnentine, allowing 50% Spotted Gum and about 25 for the millable Hardwoods, the remainder is in Undergirth, Pole and Seddling tages. The pine in this creek is very good, the assessment arrived at is herewith: 82 overgirth trees, 134 Undergirth trees and 421 seedlings, making a total of 164,000 super feet, it will be noticed from the assessment that the creek carries a good stand of seedlings.

After an interview with a teamster I unuerstand that operations are to cortmence at this locality very soon, the outlet will be viz the creek bed to the river and then down the river bank to Doboy Crossing, thence by the T.S.R. to the •raftori road.

Section "P " Pine operations have been carried out in this section and most of the matured pine has been taken, the outlet used for these operations was viz Doboy Crossing.

A snig track has been made for a part of the way up the creek, beyond this the creek becomes very rough and rocky but still workable tracks could be had along the slopes.

The country consists of steep spurs and aarts of the northern side is thick with underbrush, the south sloe up more towards the head of the creek is very open and poor country, down and round Little Baffle Creek the underbrush is very thick but the timber stand improves, some splendid Ironbark will be noticed in this lQcality.

The north side of affle Creek carries the cest of the timber, the stand in this section would average about 4000 feet to the acre allowing Spotted Gum 505o Ironbark 20% J3rushbox, W. Mahogany, Tallowwood 25%, Flooded Gum and }3loodwood 5% also a scattered stand of poles and seedlings will be seen.

The assessment of the pine is hereunder; from the mouth of the creek to T2 L overgirths, 18 undergirths, and 69 poles, the right hand branch from T2 carries 10 overgirths, 3 undergirths and 17 poles, I think by now all the matured pine would have been taken.

I am of the oninion that this section carries the best class of hardwoods I have seen on the area. Section "G"

This section is on the fall to Pinner Creek and is known as Davey's Valley, the slopes from the spur with 3 on carries no timber of any value; and is open country for about twenty chains on the south side of the creek, the timber on the north is like that of the south side of the creek, on the ne'th i like that @# the seuth of little value, in thea1ly heads the S.otted Gum improves, but considering the valley together the timber value is of a little importance -5- The grazing on this section is very rood along the crek but up towards the ran'e with H "L" : : 3 on the country becomes steer. Section "H" Much like, the last section this section is more suitable for grazing, it contains a large percentage of clear country, the best of the timber is up under N and 0, out aoart from the grazing it is of a little value, at the present time I am unable to state if it will be required for the. grass. I omitted to mention in section "3" that further consicItraton would e given to that section also section "H" when uealing with the Dinner Creek country. Section "J" -The southern portion of this country consists of hilly country, the spurs are all fairly open likewise the gullies, the northern portion is very steep country running out. to flat open spurs towards Cuvglebung Creek.

The creek bed is fairly level half way down the creek but after that one meets with many falls and rough rock, from the plan it will be seen how fast the spurs rise out of the creek, for instant at "H" in the creek it is 400 feet and at "J" on the spur it is 1600 feet a rise of about 1200 feet fn a mile. Take an eastly line from "Q14" to "J2" the country north of this line is of a little value as far as the timber is concerned it is more or less grazing land as both sides of the creek has been rung years ago, the timber although patchy imProves in the head of the creek, Spotted Gum predominates, a large percentage of the stand is in the undergirth, pole and seedling stes, the snecies noticed are ottd Gwn, White ;;ahogany, Stringybark, Tallowwood, lronbrk and iloodwood. Little Reedy Creek.

This creek carries very poor timber a small nercentage could .e obtained in some of the 7ul1y heads up under Ll and J2 and also in the gully from X4 but the stand would be nothing to make the area worth considering.

The slopes on the spur consist of loose stone on the surface and carrying useless timber such as Anple and 3loodwood few scattered Ironbark poles will be seen but to no extent also will Stririgyberk "White Mahogany Spotted Gum but the aprearance of these trees are poor.

The stand of pine in this creek is low only beingL overgirths .6 undergirths and 9 joies. Section "K"

This section is of a little value it certainly does carry a few pine trees but after an inspection I did not consider that the area the- warranted, any further work being carried out on it, I am of the opinion that it wouldc ain more then 12000 feet of nir., ro 44I .A. yJ the. basin is thick with laritana, --.'4koc ' The slopes from ridge come down into the creek, very steep, and surface loose stone will be seen on the spurs. Compartment 2.

This is more or less open grazing land along the creek, and the sour at the back of the comartmentn carries a "seless stand of timber and is also very oPen,•apart from the grazing for working of the tarIsh of Cowen the area is very useless otherwise. Compartment 3

A very fair patch of ti'ber will be located in this compartment down near the river the underbrush is very thick but a very good stand of Ironbark will be seen near the river up in the head of the gully 1h. Mahogany Spotted }um Strinybark, also Ironbark will be seen but the stand falls off, the average stand would be about 2000 feet to the acre. Compartment Li. Wide open flat szurs is the formation of tLis country only e44e4ed-4e? suitable for grazin carryinc no ti:L)er excent ple tree and a fem Stringybark poles. Pine Plantation If the Cornrission would consider a ilantation in this locality I am of the opinion a large area could be obtained and the expense of clóaring would be low the only expense thatwould be high would be the making of the road out from buccarurnbj, but still if Porests are proclaimed in this locality the road would be required. Re conm,endat ions

At the present time it is very hard matter to decide whether the area is suitable for forestry requirerrent, although the Etand of timber is very scattered still in All the area contains a large percent- age of valuable timber such as Ironbark in the pole stages, and also another thing in the favour of forestry is that the area contains a young stand of timber, and further more the country could only be used as grazing land and this can be had under the Foretry Act, if the land was suitable for Agriculture I would not consider the timber but in view of the fact it is only grazing land I think .it is more in the interest of the state to consider the timber, of course from my report it will be seen that some of the area is very useless but at the present time I sin not in a position to recommend any boundaries, as a matter of fact I might alter altbgether from my opinion Yhen I see the reaaining portion of the countri, but my report now is based on information at hand.

Yours faithfully, (sgd.) T.D. Deverell, Forest ssessr.

The District Poreter, Uruna. ,V/o ?J/7f1b juccarunhi 3. 4JJ/q23J. ' ' ' 3rd ecerber, TT.

iono urvej ard 2se57ment or .:rov.'u Jount,' reshau. ------1.i" sr,c,dcL. , ff5. Dear sir,

In accordance with your instruction on papers ii/O 22/60 I herewith forward my plan Lind reuort. The area included in this report is situated on the and west of the 'yrnboida river within the Parishes of Cowan, e1Tinrton and arool County of •resharn. Procedure The work was carried out with Conipass and chain and the assessment lines worked on in the case of ine, as regard the Urdwood stand the value are based on nersonal eatimates. !arketc At the Drsent time Grafton is the only market for this timer and the distance thereto viz oboy Crossing anti the old would be about 36 miles from tree :L on the Nymboida. ODerations No operations have iieen carried out on the area except for Cedar Getters years ago and the outlet used in this case was viz sour at G up Reedy Creek to ran'e and along that range to ijoboy Crossing and thence from Doboy by the old T.S.R. Formation The country Consists of high ridges with steep slopes with rough and stony gullies. Timber Snecies The timber found on the area is SDotted •um, brush thox, Ironbark, Stringybark, Talowwood, ess Late, Grey Gum, }rey iox, Vhite I:ahogany, and Pine, Spotted Guni predoiinatjng, 1ccess W1h reference to the access of this country I might point out that no workable tracks are available at Present. In years gone by cedar was taken up the spur in Reedy Creek but at that tiMe it would take teams two days (with 32 bullocks) to get over the hill which is only a distance of four miles hence it will be seen thz&t such a route at the present time would be useless. ibut inconnection therewith I might suggest that a very fair road could be constructed at a low cost by confining it to the bank of Cunglebung creek to the iTyrnboida River and thence by the Nymb.oida River bank to Ross Creek thence by the spur from Ross Creek to the divide of Ross Creek, and l3uccarumbi and thence down the track on sour as shown in ro. one report to Iuccarurcbi, further- more I advise that in palce of taking it up the thoida river it could cross at Doboy and thence by t}e track running fron Doboy and passing the north boundary of rminton S..L. 23. Lut should any area be set aside for forest in the locality of iiouble Jump the road mentioned up the 1iymboida river would won: the Double Jui country as well as the Cowan area, As regard the road along Cunlebunrr ree: all the timber on the area embraced in this report would have to cone towards the south hence this is the reason for sugeat±n this road. It was in my mind 4A at first that the country could be best worked by a tram line along the main range, but after see.ng this country such a thing is out of the ouestion and would be costly and useless. -2— Sect ions in place of n'ber±!y ny sections in this rort I shiil deal with them in the names of the creeks. I:y plan will shot the oest of the h rc5iood nred pine are:s in blue dots and oen runj :razin land in yelo. L:oonhirrht Gul]y This section consists of very poor countr: the slopes come down very steep from the main range anci the stno of timbr is of a poor class, up in the head of the gully a fair stand of tr:er will be seen which is mostly Spotted trni. The country under Eli is also poorly timbered paits of the ccuntry consists of Iock face and is also very stor.' down to }.Ioonhight Gullj. From UL down to the iilly the slopes carry btriigybark poles. This section is of little value for grazing or timber. Re.ds Creek The slopes from the spur of U4 are very steep and the timber is very poor, on the western side the slopes are better but still, never the less steep. North of YL the creek head forms in to a basl!t consisting more or less of undulating country with good rich red soil and carrying a splendid stand of softwoods such as Urabap1e, Coaehwood, Bean and Oak, the creek bed is rough and stony and just above E4 one meets a fall of about 20 to 25 feet of a drop. The timber in this creek consists of :rush Box, Spotted 'uir, scattered Ironbark and pine. The sverage stand of matured timber would be about 2500 super feet to the acre. On top of the Iflain range and west of ?t. Ounlebung !.:es i'ate with $lsckbutt will be seen, stranrre to say one will notice more over matured trees in com?arison with the size of the area in this locality than in any other part of the area. Out in view of the position of this stand I thiiI: most of it will go up in smoke. The best çf the timber is loc.ted on the west of the creek to Y4, the species noticed are Spotted ium, brush iox, and scittered Ironbark, the averae stand would run about 2000 super feet to the acre, semi—matured trees are well representdd. The as.essnient of pine is - 56 Overgirths 101 Undergirths and 317 poles. Groombarrel Creek This basin consists of very fair timber with Spotted Guii predominating and followed up with White Lahogany Tallowwood, Turpentine, Ironbark, Brush Box and scattered Blue Own. The .rush thox i more or less in the rullies, the millable timber would averag.:: about 2500 super feet to the acre allowing 50 Spotted Ow,, the stand of Turpentine is low and the Iron.ark although scattered in most cases 4e—mei'e—.—eee—ewg— carry good lengths.

The stand of pine is low and is more or less arourig LI the isult of the assessment is 11 overgirths 12 undergirths and 18 poles. The slopes from the spurs and ridr'es are very steep more so towards the head of the creek, the creek Itself is very rough and stony and hauling will be hard. Thioh would be down the creek to suggested road along Ounglebung Creek. Friday Creek It will be seen from my plan that this basin is just about halt and half country, te area shown in red carries Spotted Gum, Grey Gum, White Mahogany and scattered Ironbark with Brush Box in the gullies, the patch of hardwood at the head of this uasin carries overirth timber -3-

SUCh 35 Spotted Gum, I.ess hate and blue 3uri, the stand vioultli average about 4000 super feet to the acre, the rerna'Jr.: rcti.n of the country is more or less stunted timber. The slopes come up very steep from the river and the creek bed rough. This as it will be seen will ma:e hauling hard. The outlet for this timber will be down the creek to Cunleoung Creek.

Cowan Creek The country from l to Cunglebung Creek os of little value from a timber point of view, Cowan Creek as will be seen is open grazing land and the country on the slopes to ui is very steer. A fair patch of timber will be seen east of 01 the species noticed are Spotted Gum, Lrush i3ox, and scattered Ironoark. The slopes from the range Ki is fairly open and at times carried good grass. The stand of timber is Stringybark Poles and on an avera'e they are a useless tyne. The Mistake Creek, little more than of half of this country is fair, the remainder which is situated on the east of the creek with 01 and V on. With reference to the better country in this basin I have to advise that this carries Spotted Gum, Tallowwood Ironbark Stringbark Mahogany Blue Gum and Liess Late with brish heads up under Hi.

The stand of this timber is in stages from undergirth down predominating in my opinion in the pole stages which would average about 50 trees to the acre.

Up on the range in the locality of Hi a fair stand of less Mate will be seen. The slopes go off very steep from the main ridges. Creek - - Th1ãsin is similar to that of Mistake Creek the timber os of a very goo:d stand in the undergirth stages and the species are Spotted Gum, Ironbark, Strinrbark, and with kes ?ate towards Jl. The slopes are all very steep leading to the snurs and are also thick with underbrush.

Tn the riht hand branch of this creek a small patch of cedar will be seen but the stand is very limited and does not carry any weight as regard recommendations.

The natural outlet for illocky Creek basin would be down the creek to Cowan Creek and thence aloncr that creek to Cowan Creek. This portion of my report deals with the head of Cowan Creek this2ca1ity consists of very good timber although the country is steep and the slopes fall from the spurs fast. Hence the removal of timber will be hard. The outlet would be as far as I can aecertain along the creek bed, the creek bed is rou'h and stony and the spurs in places run into the creek in bluff form. The species of timber on this is Spotted :}umn, Brush Box and Ironbark, allowing 14.5,1 Spotted Gum, 30,' 3rush box, and 254 Ironbark, the stand predominates in the undergirth and poles stages. W4l1inton Creek

From Ti to Xl this country is of little value as far as timber is concerned, the country on the north of the creek carries very little timber up in the gully head under hil a small patch of timber will be seen but the majority is poor. Towards the creek the country is rung andrries fair grass.

The western portion tow4rds the range withZ1 on is similar to that on the north as regard timber. The slopes do not fall as fast from the spurs as on the north in most cases they rim out into flat country towards the creek. Mim Small nockets in this locality will be seen carryiiI good timber but the remainder is noor nnd oid" Spotted Gui" and Ironbark, but unfortunatel,f th ta reu"t in the poles stringybrk which are as a perceflt-ge a useles. lot. The Ironbark is fair but it would nct run two trees to the acre.

Pine Creek This basin carries very good timber such as tted ium rush Box and Ironbark and also Pine, this is the only area carryir any pine to speak of. Towards the mouth the slopes ccme of: the spur very steep but this is not so towards the head of the - ully. here you will find a fair slope out of the creek out this is of a little advantage as regard hauling. hs the bald of the timber will hav to go down the creek as the main top of the spur is very unever.. The best of the timber is on the north of the Creek as far as hardwoods are concerned, but pine will be found in some of the gullies on the south of the creek. The result of the assessment on the ninein this basin is:- in the main Creek 118 overgirths, 126 undergirths, 302 poles, in the gullies coming into this creek 50 overgirths, 70 undergirths and 226 poles, average the overgirth pine jD 2500 super fet r tree making a total 40500 super feet of nine in this basin, the stand- of undergirth and noles are all of a very good stand. The hardwoods predominate in the undergirth and pole stages, as far as the stand at the present time is concerned of zatured trees I would not average them more than 2000 super feet to the acre, I an. safe in saying tht the country shown in red on the accomnanying plan would carry 40 to 50 trees to the acre. The counry north of 02, 112 and 2 is of no value whatever, It consists of high steen spurs carrying ple and ,trinrbark, thence the country north of H3 which includes th fail to Lemon Tree creek this country also is of a poor class. In the locality of H3 a fair stand of pole Spotted •.iun will be found and in iatches Ironoark will be noticed. The 'ali to Lemon Tree creek goes off very fast and the timber poor. In all I do not value the country very much. Lemon Tree Creek Head - This basin consistsof a fair stand of timber which are:- Spotted iiun, Brush ox, Tallowwood Iron.ark, Turoentime and hess late, up to date this is the only locality I have seen carrying such a variety of hardwoods. In the locality of ZL., &Li, and 04 the country comes up very steep from the creek and it is..also very steep into the s.-ully from PLi. and SL., the country around and under TL goes very fast from the ridge. The stand of matured tirnoer is low but the Lrowth of semi- matured trees is very good. Vihich is in my opinion an advantage as it will be years before any operations take place in this locality. Well1nrton Creek This country formin the watershed of el1ington Creek consists of many deep little 'rullies and the creek bed is rough and stony, much of this country is onen and is of a little value. Portion of the locality carries fair Snotted Gun and scattered Ironbark with Brush Box in the r-ullies, but the stand as in all other areas predominat- es in the pole stages and undergirth. No pine will be seen in this locality. ew Scrubby Creek This portion is very steep rough and thick with underbrush and under present methods operations would be hard to work. But never- theless good timber is growtng on the slopes, nearing 03 from G3 the spur is wide and fairly flat.

-5-

t 03 Blackbutt eedlin:s nredDminate, a oru.'oo head is locted under L3, :uod ::otteu .un ..e anu in pstchas B lue aurn will be notieQ. Along the creek the timer is poor uut the stand iroroves higher up the slopes, I estimate 2000 feet to the acre with a solendid growth of sem-matured trees allowin: 50 spotted jum.

Old Scrubby Creek The mouth and a -ood deal of the eastern portion of this country is poor, it consists of steep and stony slopes carrying Stringybark and ipple. The portion shown in red on the plan from Il to A, carries very fair timber but at the same time I must point out that the country isery steep.

Take the country around under 3 and A14 this also carries very good timber but also has a very steen fall down into the creek. The average stand of timber in this basin would not exceed a 1000 feet to the acre, but the undergirth and pole timber is very fair.

The natural outlet for this timber would be down the creek which is very rough and stony. L!osouito Creek

From cunglebung house to ?L, dealIng v.'ith tis country I have to report that althouzh my work is at present limited on the area in question I have been all around the area and I find that the timber is very patchy only small pockets carrying timber of any value, the slopes come down very .teep of th= riain riage to the creek and the country is not half and half. In J.adey 3rass Creek a small Patch of nine will ue seen this is noticed up in the head of the creek. Freehold Land

With reference to portion 1 in the Parish of Cowan I understand this is freehold and is now held by Turnbull. I interviewed J.ir. Turnbufl re the portion and if theCommissjon decide to hold this country adjoining this portion I would suggest making the creek the boundary and exchanging land on the other side of the creek for this portion. This Kr. Turnbull will agree to. i.y reason for suggeting this is as this portion is only a small one and it would mean that at a later date aplic.tions would we made for some of the land adjoin- ing. - Grazing

The area is a grazing proposition is poor due to the shortage of water, in wes seasons it is all right out when it is at all dry Ounglebung Creek is the only plac carrying water hence the cattle come down out of the hills and live on the creek frontages. In view of any Forestry areas being proclaimed onthis area provin will have to be made for grazing areas for working of the forest and in this case I must toint out that the .a'eek flats are the only suitable areas. Recommendations

This area that I have now renorted is very hard to decide, first of all it is Isolated and difficult of access. Cunlehung house being seventeen miles from .uccarunibi y bridle track over Louble Jumo Country. i:evton oyd is sixteen to seventeenntics from Curigle- bung by bridle track up }.osouito Creek Duccariunbi again is thirty miles by main road to the market at Grafton and iiewton Loyd is forty miles from Glen Innes. -0—

The area is very stee) and mountainous coU!1tr hari to work and the timber rtnnd very natchy. The rxint th.t 7 h.e given consi'ieration tth in recorenuiflg it as a LA~tte oet iS in my oninion the only met'od one is able tc' ieal with this class of country. 11thouh the country is :teer) and rou:h perhaps in a period cf twenty to thirty ye:rs the rserit vys and means of removing tin;ber will irove anC, notr tii? is that in view of the country bir eless exect cor rin in good times I thini: it would be just, as well to holu it .Lor the timber.

10irs •±tiii•Ully, everell, ?oest ,ssess r.

The 4.,ctinr L'istrit iorester, Uruna. ,ijzcJfCC.7'I,/1 Foretry Comn:izin, /f Ditri..t Officc, Uruna. 7th Day, 1523. 9 .O. D.O. 2.3/217/1-

Kil t6,4C. Pk. CO; r..ue t1 0.fS.• 60 Topo and .itssessment of Crown Lands, -- - County of------3resham. Your papers 23/79. The area covered by the attached report includes Slaughtering, Downfall, Splitters, Fiddlers and i.bercrornbie Creeks, where the oulk of the pine is situated.

The topo has revealed the existence of large belts of pine in some of the Creeks. There is also good hardwood to be found including Ironbark, but it is so patchy in such scattered belts, that it cannot be considered of sufficient value as to warrant permanent reservation for Forestry purposes.

It will however, be necessary to cover a fairly large area by Timber Reservation to include all the bulk of the pine in the different Creeks, and in order to work the pine, a large area for grazing of teams is required.

I concur in the recomrendatjon of the .ssesscr to cover the area shown by broken green line. It is a large area, but it is only rough grass country and water is scarce in a dry time, in all of the Creeks excepting Cunglebung Creek, The area shown by firm green line includes all the best of the hardwood country dealt with in flo. I Report. This includes good belts of Red ;.ahogany, bpotted um and Ironbark, and I concur in the hseessorts recommendtion in this direction.

oads of access - In the absence of plan forwarded with No.1 Report, I am not able to go fully into this question, but the road suggested along Dinner Creek should be reserved to serve as access to the old Glen Innes Road and to Doboy Crossing, thence via Ohambigne to South ;rafton.

I also forward under separate covers, the hssessor's Field Books Nos. 1 to 8 and plan dealing with the subject area.

(sgd.) C.L. Love. .cting District Forester. The Secretary.

Covering letter by C.L. Love. COPY.

uccarurnbi 5th ,pril, 1923.

Topo Survey and Assessment of Crown Lands, County Greshwn, Forestry District Urunga. ------

Dear Sir, In accordance with your Instruction on oappers i.C. 22/80 I herewith forward my final report and plan on the above area. Precedure

The work was carried out with Compass and chain in most cases only running the main features, the assessing as regard the pine was done by counting the trees in the compartments and the value of the hardwood was based from personal estimates. Markets

As this is an isolated area and the surrounding country un- developed it is a hard matter to say from v;hat locality the call for supply will be made, but at the present the nearest market would be South Grafton for the South ast portion while that on the South West could either go to South Grafton or Newton Boyd and the natural outlet for the North West portion would be to iewton Boyd. Access

From L3 on the main range head of Dinner Creek would be about five miles from the 35 mile peg on the South Grafton Glen Innes road, this would be by coming along spur with 1ç3, J3, T3, F3, and G3, (shown No. 1 report and plan). Thenorth west and part of the south weat weuld go out by designed road marked on plan "A" "1 "C" and "" this road connects with the surveyed road coming out I think on the south of H.E. Winstan].ey's Crown Lease 18-17 area of 609 acres. Parish Urania, from tree C in Slaughtering Creek to 1ewton Boyd is sbcut 12 miles. Sawmills

The only mill that would at present operate in this locality would be the one t Newton ±oyd, and the output from this mill would go to Glen Innes, the distance from this mill to Glen Innes is miles. 48 Sections

In place of numbering the sections I am dealing with them in the names of the creeks.

y plan will show the best of the hardwood in red and the pine in blue dots and the open rung country in yellow. Dinner Creek

This creek extends from the basin 12 to D on Oak nearing Cnnglebung Creek.

From D to P1 the country has been rung and with the exception of a few scattered Ironbark no other timber will be found, It carries good grass but the water is missing.

The head of Dinner Creek carries fair hardwood such as Spotted Gum, Tallowwood, Turpentine nd Brush box, on the south Bide of the spurs the timber is of the best stand I would estimate 2000 super feet to the acre of millable timber allowing Spotted Gum, X40.Pole stand of Spotted Gum is also very fair. 5CK, -2- The slopes from the spurs come off very steep to the creek. The pine stand is limited in this creek which is only 15 Overgirths and 25 Undergirths. Miner's Creek Small pockets in this creek carry fair Spotted Gum. The slopes are very steep off the spurs and in places thick with underbrush. The stand of Pine is 45 Overgirths and 34 Undergirths Outlet for this timber would be by spur from Xl to L3 and thence along the main range. Abercrombie Creek From the ridges the slopes come down very steep and on the south side the country is fairly open and the surface is mostly loose stone, the creek bed is also rough and stony and consists of many falls, this of course will make operations hard, it would be under present conditions impossible to take the timber up either side, the spur on the north consists of many fobs, after a little road constructing I am of the opinion that the timber could be taken up some of the spurs on the north side of the creek, the only drawback to this is that the spurs fall away very fast on nearing the creek. The best of the hardwood is located on the north side of the 11 creek in fact fair hardwood will be noticed up uncier G" Wi" and L4 potted Gwmn predominating followed up with Grey flurn, brush box, and scattered Ironbcrk.

The Assessment of Ane is 52 Overgirths and LiL Undergirths as regard the un'er stages I ask refer nce to my Assessment page. Fiddler's Creek

Fiddler's Creek like Abercroumie Creek is also rough and stony and the creek consists of many falls.

From Ni at the mouth of the creek for about one mile up the creek is open country.

The slopes are steep and stony and thick with underbrush. The north side of this creek carries fair hardwoods and in planes it is good.

In the head of this creek the timber is of a very fine class, I omitted to mention that in the head ofbercrombje Creek the timber is also of a tine class, the heads of both Abercrombje and Fiddler's run into flat gully heads, the stand predominates in the Spotted Gum followed up with Grey Gum, Mess Mate, Irônbark and Tallowwood with Brush Box in the gullies. I estimate the stand of millable timber at 2000 super feet to the acre allowing 50 Spotted i1rum. The assessment of pine is 145 Overgirths and 188 Undergirths, and innonnection with the Pine I ask reference to the Assessment Page from this it will be seen that this creek carries a splendid growth of young pine.

The outlet for this timoer would be by spur with trees Vi" P1.i " and Q4". This originally was the old road from Boboy to Dalmorton. Prazer's Creek

This creek is fairly open for about a mile and half and carries qood grass, the slopes Irom the ridge with ?Li come off very steepand as a whole the country is open and the timber poor. -3-. The slopes from the ridge with Ji" and Ki on are of a more even grade altho steep nearing the top, the timber on these slopes is of a better class and in the gully heads on the shady siie ZoGQ timber will be noticed, the soecies are bpotted •um, Turnentine Talloww000d scattered Ironbark with brush Box in the gullies. The head of this creek is undulating country and carrying good timber I estirate the stand of millable timber at 2500 super feet to the acres. My assessment of this creek is 60 0verirths and 58 Undergirths Pine trees, the regeneration of pine in this creek is 000r. It would be oossible to take the pine down the creek, and another outlet would be by the spur from R4 to the ridge with on, this spur is steep on leoving the creek. Jimmy's Creek

The mouth of this creek is open country and this class of country continues for about a mile and a half, the slopes froi the spurs are very open and only carrying Stringybark in the pole stages, the only timber of any value is the Ironbark but this is so scattered, towards the head of the creek the country becomes very steep and stony, in small pockets Spotted Gwn will be noticed, but the majority of the country is very poorly timbered. A small patch of pine will be had in this basin which is only 9 Overgirthe and b Undergirths. The creek from the grazing point of view is poor owing to the shortage of water. Downfall Creek

Up the creek from the mouth to S the frontare of the creek has been rung and the only timber standing of any value is Ironbark, the slopes on the south si..e are only carrying Stringy- bark poles but in the gullies towards the heads fair Spotted Gum will be notices.

The Slopes are of undulating country near the creek but higher up towards the tops of the ridges the country is steep and stony.

The country from S to Al the main spurs draw in and hence the country is steep, the best of the timber is on the north si.e which is princ,ipally Spotted Gum. On the south side the timber is of a better o.c but this stand is confined to the shady paaces $ce,5 in the gullies, but the major portion of the south side is poorly timbered.

Both slopes are stony towards the top. The creek bed is rough and stony and consists of falls.

Branch from 51 up creek, this at the mouth is very steep country and thick with underbrush, the timber of value is confined to the shady places.

From the plan it will be seen that no pine is growing in this basin.

In the head of this basin the timber improves and the gully heads are of a more even grade to the creek no trouble would be had in hauling the timber out viz the head. The country in the locality of Cl" and iil" is fairly well timbered with S3otted Gum, scattered i+rey Gum, Tallowwood Ironbark and brush box moreorless in the gullies. Tn the locality of W" very fair overgirth timber will be seen the species are Spotted Gun, Mess gate, P. Gum, also on the slopes to Downfall Creek from the ridge with W"Dl" and, N. good timber will be noticed, the stand predominates in Spotted Gum in all stages. The south side of the creek is moreorless growing timber of no commercial value, it is very steep country and thick under- brush in places, :)arts are also very open.

On the north side of the slopes are of a fair grade altho nearing the creek they go off very fast, the creek ved itself is very rough and roc:y.

As regards moving the pine this I am of the opinion could be either taken up the spurs coming off the ridge from portion 8 or up the spur with Ll these two outlets are good after etting up out of the creek, but to overcome this some kind of a cuttjiir would have to be made for about twenty chains. The head of this creek was reported upon in my iol report.. I estimate the stand of millable hardwoods at 2500 super feet to the acre allowing 601,'v' Spotted Gum.

The ?ine assessment is 557 Overgirths and 570 tfndergirths, also a large stand of th under stages. plitter's Creek

This creek carries a large stand of grazing land the creek being very open and in places it has been rung, the only drawback to the grazing is that the water supply is limited.

The slopes come of the main spurs very steep but on nearing the creek they run out into flat country.

Timber found in this basin is Spotted Gum, Grey box, Ironbark, Stringybark and apple, towards the head irush 3ox will be seen in the gullies, the stand of Spotted will be noticed in all stages, the Grey Box in the sapling stages also Stringybark, the Ironbark which is mostly red is in the overgrths stages.

Like the adjoining country the best of the Timber is had in the shady places.

Consioering the area of this creek it carries a fair amount of pine, this is located towarus the head of the creek, the assessment is 262 Overgirtha and 255 Undergirtha. Compartment "A"

This compartment includes a quantity of very rough steep coun1, the slopes are very steep off the main ranre and are also stony, the timber is spotted Gum, Stringybark, and Ironbark, in places Spotted Gum is very fair out the area is limited.

In the locality of Ui a fair stand of Ironbark will be noticed, but this has very little other commercial timber to back it up. Then come along to the country under i?2 in the çu1ly heads the timber is fair, but the tops of the spurs carry very little timber of value, towards the creek the timber runs out and only Aople and Stringybark will be noticed. The creek is very open country, Blow Hole

The spur on the west of this basin is very open country on top and only cariLng scattered Stringybark poles nearing K2 good Spotted Gum will be seen, the slopes go down very steep to the creek. The head of this basin is very steep and rocky and in places you are looking down a wall of rock, like the adjoining country in places at all shady the timber improves but this basin being so rough I don't consider it of any value. -5- Star Lirtht Gully

Fair Spotted iurn will be had in this irully the sicoes are fairly steep from the sours, and the creek consists of falls. Operations in the Cedar have been carried out in this Fully and I understand that the outlet for this was by the spur rrom .L)1 thence along the main range to Winter Vale. The total stand of pine in this basin is 112 Overgirths and 112 Undergirthe. eulf Creek (above C)

204 Overirth 'ine trees will e had in this locality with 228 Undergirths, the ijSdWOOdS are fair on the west side of the creek, which is Spotted Gum.

On the west the rades are fair but thick with underbrush, On the east the slopes come down very steep.

The creek bed is open although rough and stony. On the west side the timber is fair, Spotted airri will be noticed. The outlet for this pine would be up one of the spurs on the west to ridge with " on. Slau—vhterinz Creek

This creek carries a good stand of fline and the major portion is within the Crown Lease, no improvements except for about five chain of fencing has been done on the area.

The country on the north is the best for hardwoods this carries fair Spotted Gum, Ironbark, Tallowwood and Grey Gum with i'rish ox in the gullies.

On the south side this being the sunny side the timber is poor except in the shady parts it is also steep and broken ano as a whole it is of little value.

The creek bed is very stony and it also has falls in it. The outlet for this timber would be by spur "B" but it also could go by spur "C".

For the stand of pine see assessment ?&ge. Sweeney's Creek

This country apart fromthe pine is of a little value it is similar to the adjoining country.that is good Spotted Gum in the shady palces, the slopes are steep and the country rough.

The creek bed is very rouh. Outlet for this Pine would be by spur "A". Locali- y "B" Gulf Creek.

On the west of this creek the country is open and only carrying stringybaric and scattered Ironbark but to no vtent, up under F.L.L3 the hardwoods improve, but nothing to warrant further couslderation. The east slopes come down steep from the ridges and in the head of the gullies fair timber is noticed L.ut owing to the remainder being poor it is in all very little value. Jie Hard Creek This basin consists of many steep stony ria2es, the timber is patchy although the stand improves in the shady places which is Spotted Gum and alimited stand of Iroribark. I dont't consider this country is of any value. Mosquito Creek

From CL to E4 the country is poor, on the east side the slopes are steep from the spur running out into open flat country on nearing the creek and only providinr good grass. The higher country carries Spotted Gum and this is ood in the shady places the remainder carries Stringybark anc ple on the creek frontages.

Towards the head of t:is creek the timber improves but still in all the stand is limite, I don't consider this basin is of any value. Harry's Flat Creek

On the divide of Mosquito Creek and this creek the fall towards H.F. creek is carrying poor timber and is steep and stony. Towards the head of this creek the country has had a fire over it and most of the timber had been burnt at the best of times a poor class of Spotted (um will only be seen. The creek itaelf is very open and the frontages are only carrying Apple and Stringybark The spur on the east of the pine area is carrying fair 8potted Gun in the pole stages and towards the main range hess Mate is very fair.

This country like all the other country in this locality is carrying fair timber in the shady places but this country is limited and in view of the !teepness of the area I am of the opinion that it is of little value. Grazing

This area as a grazing proposition is fair, Dinner Creek as a rule has water in places in it, uut it is the creek frontages that is the backbone of the area. RecoITmendat ions

In view of the stand of pine on this area which my report is forwarded I think it is necessary in some way to hold the pine which it contains, and the points I have given ccnslderation to are:- Grazing land for the teams Water supply Natural features for the boundar. I am of th opinion that if the area included within the broken green line is made a Forest Reserve this would meet all that is required, after the pine is removed the area again could be revised. With reference to the area Within firm green line I recomrnend that this be made a State Forest the bulk of this area was, reported upon in my Nol report of 3rd Map, 1922. If my recommendation is carried out I would suggest a road being reserved along £'inner Creek eiié- as shown in double black line on plan. Yours faithfully, (sgd.) T.D. Doverell, Forest Assessor. The Acting District Forester, Uruniza. PINE ASSSS?ENT. Crown Lands, County Gresham, ?orest District Urunga. ------Diameter. 2" & Under. 311-5" 6"-14" 15"17" 16" & Over Locality 82. 64 54. 25. 15. Dinner Ok. 60. 90. 38. 34. 45. ;iner's 40. 30. 34. 27. 31. Digger's 43. 50. 54. 44. 52. Abererombie" 15. 12. 2. 5. 6. bull DogI-I'asir 200. 228. 428. 186. 145. Fiddler's Ck.

40. 87. 90. 59, 60. 'razer's 11 5. 10. 10. 6. 9. Jimmy's " 635. 690. 874. 570. 587. Downfall 224. 212. 348. 255. 262. Splitter's " 206. 291. 461. 228. 204. Gulf 176. 350. 112. 112. Star Light Gully 57. 24. 19. Sweeney's Ck. 10. 21. 64. 24. 15. Cow hide Gu1]. =1 5. 21. 17. 46. Compt. "IT" =' ItKII 30. 6. 3. 9. 15. 11 30. 20. 16. 19. 53. of

11101 = 70. 19. 39. 18. 36. "

Alf 34. 24. 16. 12. 20. " 11 0"

IIXII 360. 80. 32. 17. 11. " =, 11. 3. 10. = 33. 5. 9. it "R" = 20. 84. 104. 74. 34. it "B" =! 749 . 320. 290. 190. 172. Slaughtering Ok. withjnEr. 32. 20. 37. 17. 7.31 Gully 114. 41 20. 20. 13. 9. 4. " 128 4. 3. 7. 0. 0 " 110 =". 3. 9. 0. =' 60. 52. 54. 46. 41. " 130

= 3004 2837 3557 2038 2010 =' All within Slaughtering Creek.