would see him again in funds, but they would slip through his fingers in a day or two; and so the life went on.”
This state of things did not last for ever, and it was not very long afterwards that thousands of miners in the district were glad to be employed at regular work for £2 a week.
Mr. Seddon’s description of the miners is confirmed by the writer quoted, who says that their ages ranged from twenty to forty, men from twenty-seven to thirty-three years of age being in the majority, and they were a splendid type. “Full dress” on the goldfields consisted of a high slouch hat, the front turned up sharp and the back turned down; a crimson shirt with a knotted crimson silk scarf; a pair of moleskin trousers, with a bright yellowish tinge on account of the clay, which seemed to wash in but never to wash out; a crimson sash; “nugget” pattern boots; and a crimson silk laced cord round the crown of the hat. Full beards were worn, and the dandies prided themselves on the length and thickness of this adornment. Irishmen generally preferred green to crimson sashes, ties, and scarfs, but no other colours were used.
From Hokitika he went to the Old Six Mile diggings at Waimea, and, with a few mates, washed a claim on the Waimea Creek.
His knowledge of engineering was found to be very useful, especially in connection with the “Band-of-Hope” water-race. He was encouraged by his success in that direction, and, later on, urged the Government and the Westland County Council to undertake the construction of large water-races. This was done, and those works, some of which cost very large sums of money, have helped to bring about the prosperity the West Coast has enjoyed.
His luck was still “out” at gold-seeking, however, so he decided to make an entirely new departure, and opened a store at Big Dam.
He found that steady business was better than the chance of making a fortune suddenly and the certainty of having to endure many hardships. He prospered so well that he was able in 1869 to leave his store for a time, go for a trip to Melbourne, marry Miss Spotswood, who had been waiting for him for three
