 |
Web Hosting by Netfirms | Free Domain Names by Netfirms |
|
|
|
|
Dygwyddodd un diwrnod, fel yr oedd Jack a minnau yn tyllu, i anhap ddyfod ar ein gwarthaf, a ni, ar y cyfamser, mewn oddeutu deg troedfedd a thriugain o ddyfnder. Wrth iddynt waghau y lleiaf o’r ddau lestr i fyny ar uchaf y mwndwll, dadfachodd, a syrthiodd i lawr o’r pen uchaf yn dra annysgwyliadwy; ond trwy drugaredd, tarawodd yn erbyn y cynnal-byst, o fewn ychydig latheni uwch ein penau, yr hyn a attaliodd gyflymdra’r disgyniad, onidê, nid oes ammheuaeth na buasem wedi ein lladd. Daeth yn ganmil gwell na’n dysgwyliad, y mae’n wir, ond er hyny, ni chawsom ddiangc yn holliach: canys, wedi i’r ystwc daraw yn y coed, uwch ein penau, tarawodd a thorrodd at waed ar arddwrn Jack, heb dorri yr asgwrn. Disgynodd, ar yr un adeg a’r crwc, ddarn clai mawr o’r pen uchaf, ac a’m tarawodd innau dan asenau fy ystlys aswy, nes yr oeddwn ar y gwaelod, bron yn farw. Er fod y cyfaill Jack yn goddef poen fawr oddiwrth ei arddwrn, etto, wrth fy nghlywed yn gruddfanu ar lawr, gwaeddodd yn ddolefus, am y tybiai fy mod yn trengu; ond daeth fy ystlys yn weddol at ei hun wedi ychydig ddyddiau. |
One day while Jack and I were in the hole, there was a mishap above us, while we were at about seventy feet deep. As they were emptying the smaller bucket at the top, it unhooked, and fell straight down the shaft unexpectedly; but mercifully, it struck the supporting beams a few yards over our heads, which slowed its descent, else we should without a doubt have been killed. It turned out a hundred thousand times better than our expectations, it is true, but we did not escape entirely: for after the bucket struck the wood above our heads, it hit Jack’s wrist, cutting it and drawing blood, but without breaking the bone. At the same time as the bucket, a big piece of clay fell from the top, and struck me on my left side under the ribs, sending me to the bottom near dead. Despite suffering great pain from his wrist, my friend Jack, on hearing me groaning at the bottom, cried mournfully, supposing I had perished; but my side was restored almost to its old self after a few days. |
|
Gweithiasom gyda’r twll hwnw yn agos i naw wythnos; costiodd i ni oddeutu cant punt i’w weithio; gan mai gauaf oedd y pryd hyny, a ninnau heb allu sychu ein dillad, yn gorfod eu gwisgo am danom yn lleithion, cafodd Phillip a minnau oerfel trwm; ac wedi’r cyfan, ni chawsom allan o lecyn ein llafur a’n hafiechyd, ond oddeutu dwy owns o aur. |
We worked that hole close on nine months; it cost us about a hundred pounds to do so, as it was over winter, and we were unable to dry our clothes, and had to wear them still damp, so that Phillip and myself caught a heavy cold; and at the end of it all, we got no more from our labour and illness than about two ounces of gold. |
|
Nid oedd un argoel i beswch mawr fy ngadael, o herwydd yr oerfel a gefais, ac aethum i ystordy lliain, lle yr arferem brynu llawer o ymborth, i ofyn cynghor at symmud y peswch. Y gwr, enw yr hwn yw Sinclair, a ddywedodd mai rhaid oedd i mi gymmeryd cyffyr i’m chwysu; pan atebais na wyddwn pa beth i’w ddefnyddio i hyny, dywedodd, “O! dim ond ychydig flawd ceirch, a thri neu bedwar gwydriaid o frandi poeth, yn gymmysgedig.” Gan yr ychwanegai y gwnai hyny yn gampus, defnyddiais y cynghor, megys y cyfarwyddodd ef; eithr ni chwysais, ac ni chefais ymwared oddiwrth y peswch; ac nid wyf yn ammheu chwaith, nad amcan penaf Sinclair oedd gwerthu ei frandi, canys yr oedd ef a’i gyd ystoryddion yn ei ddirgel werthu am swllt y gwydriad; yng nghydâ chostrelau porter a chwrw, weithiau yn hanner coron y gostrelaid, ac weithiau pump swllt a chwecheiniog. Gwerthai yr halen, weithiau swllt y pwys, bryd arall chwe’ cheiniog. Ceid ganddo dorth pedwar pwys ar un adeg am dri swllt, ac ar adeg arall mynnai chwe’ swllt. Codai a gostyngai ei sacheidiau blawd, weithiau yn ddeg punt, ac weithiau yn bedair punt y sachaid. Y tê oedd hanner coron y pwys. Y sugyr o bedair ceiniog i chwe’ cheiniog y pwys. Cloron oeddent ddeg ceiniog y pwys. Dafad o ddau swllt ar bymtheg i bunt, yn ei chrynswth, ac wedi ei lladd. Dyna oedd cyfartaledd anwadal prisiau ymborth, y pryd hyny, yng nghloddfeydd aur Ballarat. |
The great cough the cold had given me showed no sign of leaving, and so I went to the cloth store, where I used to buy a lot of food, to seek advice on shifting it. The man, whose name was Sinclair, told me I needed to take a medicine to make me sweat; when I replied that I did not know what to use for that, he said, “Oh! just a bit of oatmeal, and three or four glasses of hot brandy, mixed together.” He told me that would do splendidly, and so I followed his advice, just as he had instructed me; but I did not sweat, and I did not get rid of the cough; and I have no doubt that Sinclair’s chief aim was to sell his brandy, for he and his storemen were secretly selling it at a shilling a glass, as well as bottles of porter and ale, sometimes at half a crown a bottle, and sometimes at five shillings and sixpence. He sold the salt sometimes for a shilling a pound, and at other times for sixpence. On one occasion one could get a four pound loaf from him for three shillings, and on another he would ask for six. He raised and lowered the price of his bags of flour, sometimes ten pounds, and sometimes four pounds a bag. The tea was half a crown a pound. The sugar from fourpence to sixpence a pound. Potatoes were tenpence a pound. A whole sheep, killed, from seventeen shillings to a pound. That was the normal variability of food prices on the Ballarat goldfields. |
|
Tra rhagorai ein cysgle yn mhabell Monrow a Phillip, ar yr eiddom pan gyda’r garddwr; canys yr oedd genym brenau gwelyau, yn eu pabell hwy, i’n cyfodi oddiwrth y llawr, yn debyg i fel yn yr hen fwthyn bugail cyntaf yr aethom iddo wrth ddianc o’r llong, sef, pedwar pastwn wrth bob gwely, un pen i bob un yn fforchi, a’r llall yn fain i’w ddwfnhau a’i sicrhau yn y ddaiar; hefyd, sicrhasom bastwn o bobtu, o’r pen i’r traed, i wneyd erchwynion, ac agorasom sach gyda chyllell, gan ei hoelio o’r naill erchwyn i’r llall, yr un ffurf a chrog-wely; ond wedi i ni ddarfod gweithio ein twll, heb gael nemawr aur ynddo, symmudasom o’r Pwynt Euraidd, i drigfanu mewn lle a alwent Canadian Gully; yr hwn le sydd yng nghylch milltir a hanner o’r lle blaenorol. Dygwyddodd i Phillip a Monrow gael myned at Albanwyr i weithio yn ei tyllau; a gwnaethant, mewn ychydig wythnosau, Monrow, gyda’i gymdeithion ef rhwng chwech a saith gant o bunnau, a Phillip, gyda’i gymdeithion yntau, yn agos i dri chant o bunnau. |
Our sleeping-place in Monrow and Phillip’s tent was greatly superior to the one we had when with the gardener, as we had bedsteads in their tent, to raise us off the ground, like the ones in the first old shepherd’s hut we stayed after escaping from the ship, that is, four posts to each bed, each post forked at one end, and narrow at the other to sink and secure it in the earth; also we fixed posts on all sides, from top to bottom, and slit a bag with a knife to make a hammock; but after we finished working our hole, without finding much gold, we moved from Golden Point to stay at a place they called Canadian Gully; which place is about a mile and a half from the previous place. Phillip and Monrow were able to join some Scotsmen in their holes; and in a few weeks, Monrow and his new companions made between six and seven hundred pounds, while Phillip and his companions made close to three hundred pounds. |
|
Yr oedd Jack a minnau wedi ein gadael yn awr i ymdaro fel y gallem, ac ofnai ef yn fawr i’w ychydig arian ddarfod cyn iddo gofio am ei hen greadures, fel y galwai ef wrth-ddrych ei serch, ac ymddangosai, gan hyny yn hynod drallodus ei deimladau; eithr dichon mai mwy dyddorol i’r darllenydd a fydd ychydig o hanes yr aur. |
Jack and I were left to fend for ourselves now, and Jack feared greatly that his little bit of money would be exhausted before he saw his old girl, as he called the object of his affection, and he seemed very troubled on that account; but perhaps of more interest to the reader would be an account of the gold. |
|
Y mae dyffryn yn ymsoddi i’r Canadian Gully, a adwaenir wrth yr enw Ffos y Tywysog Rhaglaw (Prince Regent’s Gully); drwy ganol y Ffos neu y Gully yna yr oedd llinell aur yn ffurfiedig, ac yn ymdywallt i aur linell y Canadian, a safai llinell y Canadian ar wastadedd a bryniau ar bob ochr iddi. Dullwedd un, y Tywysog Rhaglaw, oedd ar i waered, gan gyfeirio’n uniongyrchol at linell y Canadian. Wedi i’r ddwy linell gyfarfod, ânt yn un llinell gyfoethog, dan yr enw Arweinfa, neu Canadian Lead, neu Siop Gemau, (Jewellery Shop). Tarawodd rhai ar aur yn drwm wrth ddyfod i lawr y Tywysog Rhaglaw; eithr wedi cael llinell y Canadian, yr hon a ddarganfyddwyd wrth dreisio llinell y Tywysog Rhaglaw, aeth y lle godidog hwnw megys i ebargofiant mewn ymddyddanion, am y ceid y fath ddarnau gwerthfawr o aur allan o’r Canadian; ac yn awr darluniaf ei dull yn gorwedd ar linell y Canadian: a golwg ardderchog sydd ar ddoethineb y Creawdwr yng nghuddiad yr aur yng nghalon y ddaiar. |
There is a valley that descends into the Canadian Gully, known by the name Prince Regent’s Gully. A line of gold ran directly through the middle of it and on into the gold line of the Canadian, which lay on a level, with hills all around. After the two lines meet, they continue as one rich line, under the name Canadian Lead, or the Jewellery Shop. Some struck gold heavily coming down the Prince Regent; but after finding the Canadian line, which was discovered while attacking the Prince Regent line, that splendid place disappeared from conversation, such valuable pieces of gold being got from the Canadian; and now I shall describe how the gold lies on the Canadian line: and what an excellent example of the Creator’s wisdom is the way it is hidden in the heart of the earth. |
|
Dychymyged y darllenydd ei hun ar wyneb y ddaiar yn Ballarat: tybied ei fod yn myned i lawr i’r ddaear, trwy ddwfr a gwahanol fath o faw, o gant i gant a phedwar ugain o droedfeddi, hyd oni ddaeth i waelod y dysgwyliai ef daro wrth aur, os ar ei linell. Yno, ar linell yr aur, gwelai ei fod ar fan dyfnach nag ar ei ddehau na’i aswy: a gwelai yno ffurf gwaelod y ddaiar yn ymranu, bob ochr i’r eurffos, yn ddwy ran, ac yn ymwahanu, gan esgyn i fyny yn raddol ar ychydig ddringiad at benau y bryniau. Byddai y llinell aur yn gyffredin, pan dynion uwch ei phen, ychydig cyn gwaelodi, yn llawn dwfr, fel na ellid myned yn mlaen gydag un na dau o dyllau, i’w gwaelodi, heb gael cydweithrediad pawb o’u hamgylch i dynnu’r dwfr o’r tyllau ar yr un amser. |
Let the reader imagine himself on the surface of the earth at Ballarat: let him suppose he goes down into the earth, through water and various kinds of dirt, from a hundred to a hundred and eighty feet, till he comes to the bottom where he would expect to strike gold, if on his line. There, on the line of gold, he would see he was on ground deeper than on his right or his left: and then he would see the earth on either side of the gold furrow dividing into two parts, which separated from each other and climbed at a gentle slope up to the tops of the hills. Generally the line of gold would be, as men approached its end, just before bottoming, full of water, so that they could not proceed to bottom it with one or two holes without getting the co-operation of everyone about to draw the water from the holes at the same time. |
|
Hefyd, caid cerryg gwynion a mawrion, ar waelod yr aur linell, ac effaith tân i’w weled yn amlwg arnynt. Gwelid amryw o’r cerryg yn llawn mândyllau, o’r rhai, yn ol cred y cloddwyr, y torrodd aur allan. Gwelid yn aml glampiau o gerryg, ac aur ronynau yn rhwym drostynt: ac nid yw y rhai a elwir yno cerryg haiarn yn amgen na chyrph mawrion o fân gerryg wedi eu rhwymo yn eu gilydd trwy rym tân yn cael ei ddilyn gan oerni. Heblaw hyny, cafwyd yno ddarnau mawrion o goed, mor ddyfn ac o gant i gant a phedwar ugain troedfedd oddiwrth arwyneb y ddaiar, wedi eu llosgi gan ddued a’r gloyn. |
Also, there would be large white stones at the bottom of the gold line, the effects of fire clearly visible on them. Some of them are riddled with tiny holes from which, as the miners believe, gold has burst out. Often masses of stones bound together by grains of gold could be seen: and those called there iron-stones are nothing more than large bodies of fine stones bound together by the force of fire followed by cold. Besides those, large pieces of wood have been found there, as deep as a hundred to a hundred and eighty feet from the surface of the earth, burnt as black as coal. |
|
Gwisgid llinell aur y Canadian â tho gwydn o glai du. Byddent yn tyllu trwy y clai du hwn, o bedair i wyth o droedfeddi, cyn gwaelodi ar linell y Canadian Gully; neu, nid yr un tewder a geid yn mhob twll; weithiau ceid y clai du o fewn tair neu bedair troedfedd i’r llinell aur, a throau eraill wedi myned wyth neu ddeg troedfedd yn îs na’r clai du y gwaelodid ar y llinell, gan orfod myned trwy rhyw fath arall o faw o dan y clai hwnw. Ffurf y llinell yn y ddaiar, fel ffurf pob mwn sydd i fyny, yna i lawr, fel tonnau’r môr, ac wedi ei britho gan fân-goed llosgedig. At wybod a fyddai cloddiwr, naill ai ar linell yr aur, neu o fewn ychydig latheni ati, ni cheid gwell arwydd na bod clai du ar derfynau ei dwll, am fod y clai hwnw wedi ei gyfyngu fel cap am yr aur linell: ac o ganlyniad, yr ychydig glai du a ganfyddwyd yn y Canadian, o’r tu allan i’r llinell, nid yw ond blaen aden deneu, fel bargod tô, wedi gorphen gwisgo am yr aur. |
The gold line of the Canadian was clothed in a tough cover of black clay. They would dig through this black clay, from four to eight feet, before bottoming on the gold line; or, sometimes, the same thickness was not met with in every hole, being within three or feet of the gold line, and at other times it went down eight or ten feet lower than the clay they had bottomed on, making it necessary to go through some other kind of earth under that clay. The formation of the line in the earth, like that of any ore that goes up, then down, was like waves of the sea, and peppered with burnt twigs and sticks. To know whether a digger was on the gold line or within a few yards of it, there could be no better sign than black clay at the edges of his hole, because that clay was wrapped like a hood around the gold line: and as a consequence, the little black clay found in the Canadian, outside of the line, is but a thin wing tip, like the eaves of a roof, finishing off the clothing of the gold. |
|
Nid oedd lled llinell aur y Canadian, mewn ambell i dwll, ond oddeutu deunaw modfedd, ac er lleied, yn talu saith gant o bunnau y droedfedd, yn y lleoedd hyny. Mewn twll arall, yn ymyl y gûl, ceid weithiau y llinell a’i lled o dair i saith droedfedd. |
In a few holes the Canadian gold line was about eighteen inches wide, and though small, paid seven hundred pounds an ich, in those places. Sometimes, in the very next hole the line would be three to seven feet wide. |
|
Hefyd, nid yw’r aur yn llinell unddarn a chyssylltiedig, fel mwnau cyffredin, ond yn debyg i fel pe cymmerai un lonaid llwy-ddysglan o blwm toddedig, a myned ar hyd ffos hynod o droellog ac anwastad, gan ei dywallt gyda llaw grynedig, a’r plwm yn colli drosodd i bob ochr prif gorph y ffos yn ffosydd mân o fwn, a phwysau pob un dernyn yn gwahaniaethu y naill oddiwrth y llall. Fel yna, mor agos ag y dichon i eiriau ei ddarlunio y gorwedd yr aur yn nghloddfeydd Ballarat: ond y mae yn ffaith y cafwyd yno symiau mawrion o aur, yn glytiau, mewn lleoedd ar wahan oddiwrth y brif linell; eithr nid mynych ei cafwyd ar wahan oddiwrth y llinell sy megys gwythïen gam yn ddarnau. |
Also, the gold is not in one whole connected line, like most ores, but is as if a spoonful of molten lead had been taken by a shaking hand and poured along a remarkably winding and uneven furrow, and the lead had spilled over the sides of the main furrow into smaller furrows of ore, the weight of each piece separating one from the other. So, as near as words can describe, lies the gold in the mines of Ballarat: but it is a fact that large amounts of gold have been found there in patches away from the main line; but it has not often been found away from the line which is like a crooked vein in pieces. |
|
Er yr ymddengys y llinell yn debyg i lwybr neidr, yn igam-ogam, yn y ddaiar, etto y mae ei chyfeiriad, yn yr amrywiol leoedd yno i’r gogledd a’r dehau. |
Although the line looks like the path of a snake, zigzagging through the earth, still its direction in the various places there is to the north and south. |
|
Cyfodid, oddiar waelod llinell y Canadian, o bedair i bump troedfedd o faw, i’r dyben o gael yr aur allan o hono, trwy ei olchi yn y modd canlynol:—Dodent bedair neu bump celyrnaid o’r baw mewn trwpa, neu, os haws deall, yr oedd gan y cloddwyr y llestr a elwir bucket, at faint un America, a dodent bedair neu bump bwcedaid o’r baw crybwylledig mewn twb mawr. Yna, dodent ddwfr, i orphen llenwi’r twb, a chymmerent raw i’w ysgwyd nerth breichiau o’i fewn, hyd oni byddai’r dwfr hwnw yn dew o faw: tywalltent y dwfr budr tros ymyl y twb, a dodent ddwfr glân yn ei le, gan newid y dwfr yn barhaus, hyd oni olchent y baw ymaith, fel na arosai ar waelod y twb namyn sylwedd trwm, megys cerryg, ychydig raian, ac aur. |
Four to five feet of earth are lifted from the bottom of the Canadian line, in order for the gold to be washed out of it in the following manner:—They would put four or five pails of the earth in a basin, or, to be clearer, the miners had a vessel called a bucket, the size of an American one, and they would put four or five bucketfuls of the said earth in a large tub. Then, water was added, to fill the tub, and they used a shovel to shake it up as hard as they could, until the water was thick with dirt: they would pour the dirty water over the edge of the tub, and replace it with clean water, changing the water repeatedly until the dirt was washed away, leaving nothing on the bottom of the tub but heavy material, like stones, a little gravel, and gold. |
|
Yn nesaf, rhoddid ychydig ar unwaith, o’r hyn a gynnwysai’r twb, mewn cryd tebyg i gryd plentyn, a dau neu dri rhwydwaith fel gogr yn ei waelod; siglai un y cryd, gan roddi dwfr ar y baw a’r aur yr un amser, ac felly disgynai’r aur i goffrau dan y rhwydwaith, ac ychydig raian yn gymmysg. Dodid cynnwysiad y coffrau mewn dysgl dỳn, elid a honno at ddwfr, ac ysgydwid y ddysgl ynddo, i’r dyben o nofio’r graian ymaith, a gweithio’r aur i’w gwaelod. |
Next, a little of the tub’s contents were put at once into a cradle like a child’s cradle, with two or three meshes like a sieve in the bottom; one man would shake the cradle, at the same time adding water to the dirt and gold, and so the gold fell into containers below the meshwork, mixed with a little gravel. The containers were emptied into a tin dish, which was then taken to water, and shaken in it, in order to float the gravel off, and work the gold to the bottom. |