of copper on the Leichhardt and in several other places, and has distinguished himself not alone as an enterprising pioneer squatter and settler, but also as an early and most indefatigable prospector for minerals. In conjunction with Mr. R. K. Sheaffe, at one time member for the district, and subsequently Mayor of Sandgate, he helped to open much of the Gulf country, and has spent a fortune and a lifetime in pioneering in outside districts. The Black Mountain is on the opposite side from the town across the river, and is, as its name denotes, a real black mountain. It is a most extensive outcrop of nearly pure metallic iron ore, and it is calculated the amount in sight is over thirteen millions of tons: great masses of the ore are lying all round the base of this enormous outcrop. * * * * * Clermont is situated on a tributary of the Nogoa River, about two hundred and twenty-seven miles distant by railway from Rockhampton, and well known for its mineral resources. Since 1862 large quantities of copper have been obtained, and the surrounding country is also auriferous, alluvial mining having been carried on with more or less success. Four miles from Clermont are the ruins of old Copperfield, a township prosperous from 1864 to 1870, in the palmy days of the Peak Downs Copper Company, which paid dividends of eighty per cent., and in 1867 sold copper to the amount of £120,000. Owing to a great fall in the value of copper, the property was sold for £3,000, and this mining enterprise collapsed. CHAPTER IX. INCIDENTS OF THE EARLY DAYS.