The following are the rules by which our affairs were regulated. They were drawn up before leaving Melbourne, and signed by all. Though crude and imperfect, they were sufficient to preserve complete harmony and good fellowship between five young men of different character, taste, and education--a harmony and good fellowship which even Richard's withdrawal did not interrupt. The rules were these: 1. No one party to be ruler; but every week by turn, one to buy, sell, take charge of gold, and transact all business matters. 2. The gold to be divided, and accounts settled every Saturday night. 3. Any one voluntarily leaving the party, to have one-third of his original share in the expense of purchasing tent and tools returned to him, but to have no further claim upon them or upon the gold that may be found after his withdrawal. Any one dismissed the party for misconduct, to forfeit all claim upon the joint property. 4. The party agree to stand by one another in all danger, difficulty, or illness. 5. Swearing, gambling, and drinking spirits to be strictly avoided. 6. Morning service to be read every Sunday morning. 7. All disputes or appeals from the foregoing rules to be settled by a majority. Chapter X. IRONBARK GULLY I have said little in description of the Eagle Hawk, for all gullies or valleys at the diggings bear a strong external resemblance one to another. This one differed from others only in being much longer and wider; the sides, as is usually the case in the richest gullies, were not precipitous, but very gradual; a few mountains closed the background. The digging was in many places very shallow, and the soil was sometimes of a clayey description, sometimes very gravelly with slate bottom, sometimes gravelly with pipeclay bottom, sometimes quite sandy; in fact, the earth was of all sorts and depths. At one time there were eight thousand diggers together in Eagle Hawk Gully. This was some months before we visited it. During the period of our stay at Bendigo there were not more than a thousand, and fewer still in the Iron Bark. The reasons for this apparent desertion were several.