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Ar ol i ni lwyddo i gael gan y garddwr bobi am fisoedd, dygwyddodd i’r ail îs-lywydd ei ddigio, drwy ryw anhap neu gilydd; a’i unig ddialedd, oedd dywedyd y caffem ni gymeryd ein tro, y naill ar ol y llall, i bobi bara. Dywedodd yr ail îs-lywydd nad oedd waeth ganddo hyny, “O’m rhan fy hun,” ebe efe, “medraf wneuthur dampers gystal ag ungwr.” “Cawn weled hyny yn y man,” atebai’r garddwr. “Os na fedraf finnau wneuthur dampers, torrwn fy mreichiau ymaith,” ebe Jack. “Amser a ddengys,” medda’r garddwr drachefn. |
After we had had the gardener baking for us for months, the second mate happened to anger him one day, through some accident or other; and the gardener’s only vengeance was to make us take our turns at baking. The second mate claimed not to mind; “For my own part,” he said, “I can make dampers as well as any man.” “We shall soon see,” replied the gardener. “And if I can’t make dampers, you can cut my arms off,” said Jack. “Time will tell,” said the gardener again. |
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Modd bynag, dacw Jack at y gorchwyl o bobi damper rhyw ddydd; ac yr oedd yn un dda, fel na allai’r garddwr ei beio. Daeth tro yr ail îs-lywydd i bobi; a dechreuodd dorchi ei lewis, gan drin a throi y blawd a’r soda fel cawr, a meddyliai ei hun yn gystal pobwr ag undyn. Pan ddaeth ei does yn barod, taflodd hi ar y lle poeth, a chraswyd fel arferol. Yr oedd ef yn ofalus, ac yn cadw digon o wres o’i chylch, gan dybied mai anmhosibl i neb wneuthur gwell damper. Daeth yr adeg i dynnu’r dorth o’r tân, ac wrth symmud y marwor ymaith, pa beth a welai ond y damper wedi ymledu yn mhob dull ac yn faw drosti! Yr achos o hyny, oedd y taflodd ef y dorth i’r poethder heb ei throi, ac felly yn annichonadwy i’w chonglau asio yn eu gilydd. Parhaodd hyn yn hir destun chwerthin yn awr ac eilwaith, yn enwedig i’r garddwr; a galwyd y damper hono, o herwydd ei dull, “Map o Arfordir Affrica!” O’r diwedd deuodd i’m rhan innau bobi, ac aethum at fy nghymydogion, i’r babell nesaf, i ofyn benthyg padell haiarn hylaw i grasu; yr hyn a gefais yn rhwydd. Dodais gymmaint o soda ag ai melynodd fel yr aur, gan feddwl y cawswn well codiad; ond nid oedd wedi’r cyfan yn amgenach na’r lleill. Byddai ein bara, bob amser, gan drymed ac mor ddigodiad a chlai; eithr byddai blas y rhai a graswyd ar y ddaiar, er eu bod fel clai, yn tra rhagori ar unrhyw fara a graswyd fel arall a ellid ei gael o fewn Ballarat. |
Anyway, there was Jack one day applying himself to the task of baking a damper; and it turned out to be a good one, which the gardener could not fault. Then it was the second mate’s turn to bake; he began by rolling up his sleeves, and worked the flour and soda up like a titan, thinking himself as good a baker as any man. When his dough was ready, he threw it on the hot place, and it was baked as usual. He was careful to keep enough heat around it, and imagined no one could make a better damper. The time came to take the loaf from the fire, and as the ashes were brushed aside, what did we see but the damper all spread out and covered with dirt! The cause of this was that he had thrown the loaf into the heat without folding it, so that it was impossible for the corners to stick together. This incident long remained an occasional source of laughter, especially for the gardener; and we called that damper, from its shape, “a Map of the Coast of Africa!” Finally it was my turn to bake, and I went to my neighbours in the next tent to borrow an iron pan suitable for the job; they gave me one readily. I put in enough soda to make the damper as yellow as the gold, thinking it would rise better; but in the end it was no better than the others. Our bread, every time, would be as heavy and as unrisen as clay; but the taste of those cooked on the earth, though they were like clay, was greatly superior to any other kind of bread to be found in Ballarat. |
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Yn mhen ychydig wedi tro y damper, aeth yr ail îs-lywydd at un o’n hymfudwyr i gloddio, gan ein gadael ein trioedd. Wedi ychydig wythnosau, ymadawodd drachefn oddiwrth hwnw, gan fyned at gymdeithion ereill; a bu mor lwyddiannus a chael pump cant o bunnau i’w ran. Cyfarfuasom ninnau ag un o’n hymfudwyr o’r enw James Young, o Glasgow, yr hwn oedd a’i wraig gydag ef, y rhai a ddaethant attom, yn lle yr ail îs-lywydd; a’r wraig, ar ol hyny, a fyddai yn golchi, pobi, a choginio i ni, fel y trigiasom yn gysurus gyda’n gilydd am rai misoedd. Ond ar ryw nos Sadwrn, meddwasom ni y meibion, a’r wraig yn sobr; aeth yn ffrae rhwng ein cydymaith newydd a’r garddwr; a’r canlyniad a fu i’r garddwr ein gadael, ac ymuno gydag un mor ddigrif ag ef ei hun, yr hwn a adnabyddid yn y gloddfa, wrth yr enw “Hen wr,” er heb fod tros ddeg a’r hugain oed, am y galwai ef bawb, hyd yn nod pob bachgen, yn hen wr. Nid oedd y garddwr, ar ol ein gadael, nepell oddiwrthym, a thrwy hyny gwyddai yn fuan, os tarawem wrth swm go dda o aur. |
Not long after the damper baking, the second mate went to dig with one of our emigrants, leaving just the three of us. A few weeks later, he left that man and went on to other companions, and was lucky enough to make five hundred pounds. We met up with another of our emigrants by the name of James Young, from Glasgow, who had his wife with him, and they came to us in the second mate’s place. The wife washed, baked, and cooked for us, and we lived comfortably together for some months. But one Saturday evening, we men got drunk, while the wife stayed sober. Our new companion and the gardener started to quarrel, with the result that the gardener left us, and went to join someone as merry as himself, a man known on the diggings by the name “Old Man,” though he was no older than twenty, because he called everyone, even boys, “old man.” The gardener was still not far from us, and he would know immediately if we struck a decent amount of gold. |
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Rhyw ddiwrnod, cyfarfuasom â dau ereill o’n hymfudwyr, y naill yn John Monrow, o’r Alban, a’r llall yn Phillip Rumrall, o Jersey, sef fy hen gyfaill llyfndew yn y llong, yr hwn y soniais am ei fyned yn glaf, a’i ddolur yn dringo hyd i’w ben ac allan, rhag gweithio gormod am ei drosglwyddiad. Yr oedd gan y ddau hyn dwll, ar le a elwir “Pwynt Euraidd,” Ballarat, a buont ddeufis yn saethu trwy un ar bymtheg o gerryg haiarn, cyn ei waelodi. Wedi dechreu o honynt yrru tà n y ddaiar, torrasant i mewn i’r twll agosaf atynt, a chloddwyr y twll hwnw yr un modd i ryw dwll arall llawn o ddwfr, fel, o ganlyniad, y ffrydiodd y dwfr yn gefnllif i dwll Phillip a Monrow, fel ag i eiddo’r lleill. Perthynai dau gefnder o Ynys Manaw, i’r unrhyw dwll a hwythau eu dau. Un o’r ddau gefnder, a’i enw James Chag, a ddaeth i Australia hir amser cyn bod sôn am y cloddfeydd aur; ac a wnaeth gantoedd o bunnau yn y cloddfeydd pan eu dechreuwyd; a thrwy hyny, yr oedd ef yn bur dda arno yn ei amgylchiadau. Ond am y llall, a’i enw Cesick, un o’n hymfudwyr oedd ef, ac yn fwytawr nad hawdd gweled ei gyffelyb. Prif fyfyrdod ei feddwl yn y llong, ar hyd y fordaith, oedd myned o amgylch gan ddeisyf cael gweddillion pawb o’r ymfudwyr, a llwyddai yn aml i gael ganddynt a elwir “bully soup;” eithr moes, moes, a ddywedai ef yn barhaus, hyd oni chafodd unwaith gymmaint, drwy ein cydfwriad i lwytho ei geudod, y bu yn rhaid i’r meddyg roddi iddo gyffer cyfogol i’w fwrw allan. |
One day, we met another two of our emigrants, one a John Monrow, from Scotland, and the other Phillip Rumrall, from Jersey, my old plump friend on the ship, who I said had fallen ill, the pain rising to his head and out, so as not to work too much for his passage. The two had a hole at a place called “Golden Point,” Ballarat, and had spent two months blasting through sixteen iron rocks, before bottoming it. Having begun to drive under the earth, they broke into the hole next to them, and in the same way the diggers in that hole broke into some other hole full of water, letting a torrent of water gush into both holes. The hole Phillip and Monrow had breached belonged to a pair of cousins from the Isle of Man. One of them, James Chag, had come to Australia long before there was talk of the goldfields. He had made hundreds of pounds on the diggings when the mining started, and was now in good circumstances. But the other one, named Cesick, was another of our emigrants, and a greater eater would be hard to find. The chief occupation of his mind on the voyage was to go about the ship begging for scraps from all the emigrants, and he was often able to get from them what is called “bully soup,” but “give, give” he would continue to say, until he had eaten enough, through our conspiracy to load his belly, that the doctor had to give him an emetic drug to bring it up. |
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Pan welodd y ddau gefnder, Chag a Cesick, i’r dwfr dorri i’w twll, llwfrhasant ac aethant i Geelong, gan adaw i Phillip a Monrow wneuthur a fynont, am y tybient na allasai neb ddihysbyddu’r lle, i weithio ynddo mwy. Credai Phillip a Monrow fod yno aur dan y dwfr, ac am hyny anfoddlon oeddent i’w adael, na rhoddi i gydweithwyr newyddion ond hanner yr hyn a gawsent o aur. Ymunodd Jac, James Young, a minnau i fyned a gweithio ar yr ammodau o gael yr hanner; a gorchfygasom y dwfr mewn pedwar diwrnod. Wedi gweithio yno ddwy wythnos, gorphenasom y twll, a chawsom un wns a deugain a hanner bob un i’r rhan. |
When the two cousins, Chag and Cesick, saw the water break into their hole, they lost heart and departed for Geelong, believing no one would be able to drain the place for further work, and so Phillip and Monrow were left to do as they liked. They believed there was gold under the water, and were loathe to leave it, or to give new associates even half of the gold they had found. Jack, James Young, and myself agreed to help them on condition that we got half; and in four days we subdued the water. We finished the hole in four days, and got forty-one and a half ounces apiece. |
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Gwr yn cymeryd arno fod yn dra chrefyddol oedd Monrow, a chymhellai ef Phillip a minnau i ddiwygio ein buchedd yn wastadol. Dywedai Phillip wrthyf, yng nghlyw Monrow, “Trown ninnau at grefydd, wedi i ni gael digon o aur, oni wnawn hi, Hugh?” “O, gwnawn, bid sicr,” atebwn innau, mor anystyriol a cheffyl, gan chwerthin; pan ddisgynai ein geiriau ar glust Monrow, rhoddai ochenaid drom, ragrithiol, a chyfodai ei ddwylaw i fyny, i arwyddo ei fod mewn dwfn deimlad o’n plegid. |
Monrow professed to be a very religious man, and constantly urged Phillip and myself to reform our ways. Phillip would say to me, in Monrow’s hearing, “We shall turn to religion once we have enough gold, shan’t we, Hugh?” “Oh, yes, we certainly shall,” I should reply with a laugh, as uncaring as a horse; when our words fell on Monrow’s ears, he let out a heavy, sanctimonious sigh, and lifted up his hands to signal the deep concern he had for our welfare. |
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Modd bynag, tri diwrnod cyn gorphen o honom y twll, ar nos Sadwrn, tarawsom wrth aur yn drwm. Ni chymmerai Monrow, mwy na ninnau, ddim amser i fwyta y noswaith honno; a chan na welai’r garddwr ni yn myned at ein prydiau fel arferol, tybiodd mai rhaid ein bod yn gwneyd yn dda, a ni yn ffaelu hepgor hamdden i gymmeryd lluniaeth. Teimlai ei hun yn siomedig hefyd, o’n gweled mor llwyddiannus ar ol iddo ein gadael, tra ef a’i gydymaith, Hen wr, yn methu ennill eu halen. Er ffraeo o’r garddwr gyda James Young, fel nad da rhyngddynt, etto dangosodd ei gyfrwysdra y noswaith honno; canys daeth i lawr, oddeutu deg o’r gloch, at y twll, i edrych am danom, gyda llonaid crochan o dê, digonedd o fara ac ymenyn, a chostrelaid o frandi, ac yn gwaeddi mor siriol a llawen, fel pe na buasai gair wedi bod o’i le rhyngddynt erioed, “Yr oeddwn yn meddwl fod arnoch chwi eisiau bwyd bellach.” Effeithiodd a dylanwadodd ei ymddygiad i ennill serch Phillip a Monrow, trwy iddynt ei weled yn hen ddyn mor garedig, a chydsyniant â mi roddi gwaith iddo, hyd oni orphenem y twll. Gweithio yn egnïol a wnaethom oll, hyd i bump o’r gloch boreu Sul, a Monrow, fel eraill, yn caru aur yn fwy na charu Duw; ac, heblaw hyny, nid modd iddo ef allu dylanwadu ar Phillip na minnau, wrth ein cynghori, am y gwyddem y medrai ef feddwi dipyn bach, a rhegi dipyn bach hefyd ar adegau. |
Anyway, three days before finishing the hole, on Saturday night, we struck gold heavily. Neither Monrow nor ourselves took time to eat that night; and when the gardener did not see us going for our meals as usual, he supposed we must be doing well, and could not spare the time to take food. He was disappointed to see us so successful after he had left us, while he and his companion, “Old Man”, were failing to earn their salt. Though having fought with James Young, and things not being good between them, the gardener showed his cunning that night; he came down to the hole about ten o’clock to look for us, with a potful of tea, plenty of bread and butter, and a bottle of brandy, calling out as bright and cheery as if there had never been a word out of place between them, “I was thinking you’d be wanting some food by now.” His conduct served to win over Phillip and Monrow, as he now appeared to them such a kind old man, and we agreed to give him work, until we finished the hole. We all worked vigorously, till five o’clock on Saturday morning, Monrow, like others, loving gold more than God; but, apart from that, there was no way the gardener’s exhortations could influence either Phillip or myself, for we knew he could drink a bit, and swear a bit as well at times. |
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Ar ol gorphen y twll, a thalu i’r garddwr yr hyn oedd deilwng am ei waith, nyni a adawsom iddo fyned ymaith. James Young hefyd a droes i feddwi, a’r canlyniad a fu i Jack a minnau ymadael ag ef, ac unasom ein hunain, mewn cyfranogiad, gyda Phillip a Monrow. Tarawsom i weithio ein pedwar yn yr un llecyn bron, gan dorri twll arall, yr hwn a aeth i’r dyfnder o bedwar ugain troedfedd, tra y llall ond hanner cant. Mesur ein mwndwll newydd, shaft, oedd chwech wrth bump troedfedd, am fod arnom eisiau lle i ddau weithio ar unwaith; ond mesur y mwndyllau yn gyffredin ar y pryd, oedd tair a hanner troedfedd eu hyd, a dwy a hanner eu lled, ac wedi eu coedio i’r gwaelod o’r pen, rhag i’r ddaiar syrthio ar y cloddwyr wrth eu gwaith. |
When the hole was finished, we paid the gardener his due for the work, and let him go. James Young too turned to drink, and consequently Jack and I left him, and went into partnership with Phillip and Monrow. The four of us set to work almost in the same spot, cutting out a new hole, down to eighty feet, the other hole having been only fifty. Our new mineshaft measured six by five feet, so that there was room for two to work at once; but the size of mineshafts at the time was generally three and a half feet long, by two and a half wide, and they were timbered from top to bottom, lest the earth fall on the diggers as they worked. |
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Wedi i ni gloddio ein twll newydd i lawr hanner cant o droedfeddi, daeth dwfr iddo mor gyflym, fel na wnaethom am dair wythnos, ond chwyrn-droi y ddirwynlath i’w ddihyspyddu gyda chelyrnau mawrion. Y rheswm paham i ni gael cymmaint dwfr, yw nad oedd yn y llecyn hyny neb ond y ni yn gweithio. Cawsom hefyd i gynio trwy fath o garreg wen, gryn ddeuddeg troedfedd wrth ei dyllu. |
After we had dug our new hole down to fifty feet, water began to seep in fast, forcing us to stop work for three weeks, while we spun the windlass to empty it with large buckets. The reason we struck so much water was that there was no one besides ourselves working at that spot. We also had to chisel through a kind of white rock, fully twelve feet thick. |
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Y modd y gwnaem goed yn barod i goedio’r twll oedd a ganlyn:—Cymerem i goedwig fwyeill a llif fawr; dewisem goeden a dybiem y gwnai hollti; torrem y goeden honno i lawr; mesurem arni hyd a lled ein twyll, a llifiem y darnau mesuredig ymaith, yn foncyffiau; yna, dodem gynion heiyrn yma ac acw ar y prenau, gan eu curo ar eu penau i mewn â darn o bren. Os dygwyddem gael coeden dda, hi a holltai yn rhwydd; a’r amser hyny, cymmerai un ei fwyell, un ei neddai, ac arall ei lif fechan, i ffurfio a chyfaddasu’r cynnal-byst i’r twll; a chludem hwynt ar ein hysgwyddau, ac ar ein cefnau, gryn ddwy filltir o ffordd weithiau. Caffem ar rai prydiau, ond nid bob adeg, drol i’w cludo ychydig ffordd, am bunt y llwyth. |
The way we prepared wood for timbering the hole was as follows:—We took axes and a big saw into the forest; we chose a tree we thought we could split; we cut that tree down; we measured out the length and width of our hole on it, and sawed the measured pieces out; then, we placed iron wedges here and there, driving them in with a piece of wood. If we chose a good tree, it would split easily; and then one of us would take his axe, one his adze, and another his small saw, to fit and shape the supporting beams for the hole; then we carried them on our shoulders and backs, a good two miles sometimes. Several times, but not every time, we hired a cart for short distances, at a pound a load. |
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Wedi ein hattal, am dair wythnos, gan y gwaith o dynnu allan y dwfr, nyni a gyflogasom ddau ddyn, rhai newydd ddyfod yno yn isel eu hamgylchiadau, am y tâl o bump punt a phump swllt yr wythnos, i dynnu dwfr o’r twll, o saith o’r gloch yr hwyr, hyd i saith o’r gloch y boreu: pryd y byddai dau o honom ninnau wrth y ddirwynlath, yn tynnu dwfr a baw i fyny, a’r ddau arall yn y twll, hyd i saith yr hwyr. Os oeddem ond ychydig fynydau yn y gwaelod, heb anfon dwfr i fyny, byddem at ein hanner ynddo, tra dwfr o’r ochrau, yn uwch o lawer na’n penau, yn bwrlymu ei lifiant arnom drwy’r holl amser, fel y byddem mor wlybion a dyfrgwn. Newidiem y ddau i fyny am y ddau i lawr bob yn eil-dydd, fel y caffem oll ddydd sych dranoeth ar ol y gwlyb. Daliai un o’n celyrnau ddeuddeg galwyniad, y llall ychydig yn llai, ac arferem daflu allan, mewn deuddeg awr, o naw cant i fil llonaid ein celyrnau, neu ddeuddeg mil o alwyni; ac felly, byddai un llestr yn cyrhaedd i fyny’n llawn, pan y cyrhaeddai’r llall, yn wâg, i’r gwaelod. |
After being held up for three weeks drawing out the water, we engaged two men, who had recently arrived in poor circumstances, for five guineas a week, to draw the water for us, from seven o’clock in the evening till seven o’clock in the morning, when two of us would be at the windlass, pulling up water and mud, while the other two would be in the hole, till seven in the evening. If we were but a few minutes at the bottom without sending up water, we should be up to our waists in it, while all the while more water poured down on our heads from the sides of the shaft, so that we were as wet as otters. Each pair of men would exchange places at midday, so that we all had a whole day overnight to dry. One of our buckets held twelve gallons, the other a little less, and in twelve hours we drew up between nine hundred and one thousand bucketfuls, or twelve thousand gallons; and so, one bucket would reach the top full, just as the other reached the bottom empty. |