Let us now examine the mining. Here we see its primitive methods in the bush. There is probably alluvial gold in the bed of a 51 stream, buried under the surface sand and clay. The stuff is merely hauled up in buckets and thrown out on to the “dump” to 52 await further treatment. Here again, instead of sinking a shaft, the miners have burrowed into the bare hillside. In some places, 53 where water is to be had for a short time after the rains, the miners contrive a primitive washing machine such as we see here. 54 The large trough is merely a hollow log, where the gold-bearing dirt is washed to free it from clay, while the larger stones are picked out. Then it is put into the long trough and sluiced, so that the gold settles among the small stones while the lighter stuff is carried away. The troughs are of wood and the pump is distinctly home made; the water is used again and again until it becomes too thick or evaporates altogether. Now let us turn to another picture. Here is an up-to-date mine, with machinery and tanks for the chemical extraction of the last 55 atom of gold, after the mass has already been treated in great 56 batteries. There is a deep shaft here with mechanical winding as in a coal mine; but often the gold-bearing quartz is near the surface, and we have an “open cut,” or practically a quarry. 57 Here is one showing the rock at close quarters: the white is the rock which contains the gold, while the dark is the “mullock,” 58 or “country” rock, as the miners style it. There are other goldfields nearer the coast, in the district north-east of Perth. Although near the sea this is a very dry country with much mulga scrub; for, as we go northwards, the scanty rainfall is more and more limited to a very narrow strip along the coast. We have noticed already that the forest zone ends not far north of Perth. The rest of the interior in this part of the State is a stony desert whose chief product is the spinifex, or porcupine grass, which we have seen before. This often forms an impenetrable scrub, as many explorers have found to their cost. Over very large areas the surface is covered with great boulders; these may be troublesome to the traveller, but they are not without their uses. The storm water runs off them and does not contain salt, so that it can be caught in a tank for the cattle on the stock 59 routes, as we see in this picture.