3. Gold!

GOLD!

As far as I am aware, there are no written stories nor anecdotes by Thomas or Leonard themselves, nor any oral stories passed on to the family, as to how they travelled to the Victorian Goldfields.   Whether it was on foot or if they had sufficient funds to go by coach, (which cost approximately £3 to £10), depending on seat availability, can only be surmised. We don't know how they managed to transport their possessions either, as there are no relevant records available.  Did they have bulky trunks?  If so, did they have to leave them behind in Melbourne, or have them carted to the goldfields?

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Above - "The New Rush" by S.T. Gill, - courtesy, National Museum of Australia. This drawing by Samuel Thomas Gill, who was a prominent artist on the goldfields in the early years of Victorian development, helps us to imagine what it would have been like for the two brothers, if they had to trek the hundred miles to the goldfields.


Australia would have seemed a strange and alien place to them, with such animals as kangaroos, emus and koalas, that they had never seen before.  Then there were the groups of aboriginals who mainly kept to the fringes of the settlements, whose way of life would appear so foreign to these English boys.  The Chinese too, set up their own camps, however, their way of life and the language barrier, caused a lot of problems among the miners.

"The Rush to the Ballarat Goldfields" - Source - The National Library 

There were no proper roads to follow from Melbourne to Ballarat, or Bendigo, only bush tracks, that criss-crossed the country side and were almost impassable in places.  Many sections were knee deep in mud in the winter time, and those who were lucky enough to have wagons laden with their goods, invariably became bogged and had to be unloaded and then re-loaded, to give them any chance to get through.

There were few shelters or inns along the way, and the weary travellers had to sleep under the stars, completely open to the elements, continuing their journey, day after day, in damp clothing and boots.  For those with families, the journey was made even more perilous, as lack of food and sickness, overcame many.  Some were so weak that they couldn't manage to continue carrying their possessions, so they simply discarded them along the way.

The gold rush also brought with it many "scurrilous vendors", intent on "fleecing" the gold seekers unmercifully of what little money they had left, so that they arrived at the gold fields almost penniless.

En route to the diggings, 1851, by William Strutt, courtesy of Parliament of Victoria .

Ever since I started researching Thomas and Leonard's movements in Victoria, many years ago, I believed that they first travelled to the Ballarat area, as the locations on Miner's Rights I had sighted, were for Monkey Gully and Deep Lead, both south of Ballarat.

However, I have recently discovered a newspaper article that suggests that they, like many thousands of other hopefuls, went to the Mount Alexander diggings first.

These are the diggings that the UK newspapers promised great riches to be found in.  You will find Leonard Greenbank's name underlined close to the bottom of this article from the Mount Alexander Mail, dated 1855.  It's interesting reading, so I have included the entire story, or you can skip to the end.

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Mount Alexander Mail - Friday 2 November 1855 – p. 3

CASTLEMAINE POLICE COURT.

Wednesday, Oct. 31, before Capt. Harrison - DEPREDATORS. Jeremiah Bridge, Henry Dixon, John Wallace, and David Richmond were charged with cattle stealing. It was not found advisable to press the charge, and it was withdrawn. They were then charged with having stolen property in their possession, knowing it to be stolen. To this they pleaded not guilty. Constable Cook deposed to having gone to the tent of the prisoner Richmond from information he had received, and upon his acknowledging himself to be the owner of the tent he arrested him and searched; found, among other things, the fore quarters of a calf, salted down in a bag. He gave Richmond to the care of an officer while he went to look for Bridge; he was slinking away, but admitted he lived there, though he did not claim to be a part owner of the tent, and from description he received, he arrested Dixon on Kangaroo Flat; when brought to the tent he acknowledged he lived there. There were two tents beside each other, one much smaller than the other. The tent in which the part of the calf was found had four bunks in it, the smaller one, only two old cradles, and did not seem to be much used, none of the goods brought into court were found in it.

The prisoners declined asking him any questions. This evidence was corroborated by Constable Byrne, who identified the skin as being the same found outside the tent, the head of the calf was inside the door on a table. Wm. Parish, digger on Kangaroo flat, deposed to going with the officer to search, and identified the calf's head, which smelt very bad. He valued the calf at £5. Richmond, in his defence, acknowledged to finding the carcase on the diggings in a fly-blown condition, and taking it home as meat for the dog, but as the animal was sworn to as having been seen alive on Sunday evening, and the meat was found salted down, this assertion did not weigh much in his favor. Bridge, Dixon, and Wallace were discharged, and Richmond was sentenced to a fine of £20, or in default to be imprisoned for four months with hard labour in Castlemaine gaol. 

They were all placed again at the bar upon a similar charge, and Thomas Hopkins, digger, of Kangaroo flat, swore to an opossum rug which had been found inter alia in Richmond's tent. Mr. Furneil said there were other charges, and he should proceed with them all, as there could be no reasonable doubt that they were a gang of habitual depredators. After the usual caution, and reserving their defence, they were fully committed to take their trial on the 9th Dec. 

A similar charge was then preferred in relation to other property, and Leonard Greenbank swore to a tomahawk and boots then produced, value £1. Constables Byrne and Cook also identified them as being seized in the tent of these men when they were captured. There were twenty blankets or more. They were committed on this charge also.
 

For more information on the Mount Alexander Diggings, visit the FOMAD site, (Friends of Mount Alexander Diggings), here.

Once they arrived at the diggings, they would have then had to stock up on all the supplies necessary for gold panning, digging and survival, in their new bush environment. They would have staked their claim, pitched their tent, and set up their belongings nearby. We can imagine that they would have been very eager when they first started out, working long hours with picks, shovels and pans, but of what successes they had is anybody's guess.

Presumably they found enough gold to pay the dreaded licence each month, however, they may have been one of the many thousands who hid down their holes when the cry of "Joe, Joe", was heard as the troopers mercilessly hunted the poor diggers down.

As Thomas and Leonard settled into their new way of life, they, like the majority of diggers, would be buoyed by the prospects of "striking it rich",  but history tells us that they weren't spectacularly successful.  They must have obviously found enough gold to be able to buy flour for damper and mutton, the main staples of a digger's diet on the goldfields, with plenty of tea to wash it down with.

 
A butcher's shop on the goldfields, by S. T. Gill.

With a lack of any fresh fruit and vegetables many of the diggers became sick and malnourished.   Milk and eggs were also impossible to buy.   Living in such squalid conditions, poor hygiene and disease was rife on the diggings.   Fresh water was also hard to come by as the creeks became polluted from the constant digging and panning, and human and animal waste.

Michael Cannon, (Australia in the Victorian Age - Who's Master Who's Man), tells us, "Despite the many tragedies, there were brighter sides to life on the goldfields.  Sunday became traditionally a day to rest from the week's arduous labour, to 'make and mend', to cook more sustaining meals, to hunt wild game for variation in diet, to gather firewood, to wash the week's accumulated filth from working clothes, and later perhaps to seek some entertainment.  Sunday was observed 'with outward decency', which was 'rarely openly outraged before evening', La Trobe reported to London.  William Craig found 'something animating and interesting' in every gully, where music, song and laughter were heard in every direction.  Impromptu German bands played, Scottish highlanders skirled on the bagpipes, negroes sang spirituals, Welsh choral groups sang hymns or held simple church services with itinerant preachers occasionally giving a sermon.  Generally, however,the habit of regular churchgoing was lost, never to be regained.  At night the diggers visited nearby tents, yarned or sang around the campfire, then returned to their own flickering lamplight to crawl between their grimy blankets 'more like dogs than men', but still refreshed for the week ahead". 

"Fryer's Creek, Mount Alexander Diggings" by Samuel Thomas Gill.

The State Library of Victoria has in its repository an original petition, "signed by over 5,000 diggers on the Victorian goldfields who were angry about the mining licence fees imposed by the Government and the system by which they were collected."

"In June 1853, an anti-gold licence association was formed at Bendigo to give voice to the diggers' many grievances about their conditions.  A petition outlining the diggers' grievances and calling for a reduced licence fee, improved law and order, the right to vote and the right to buy land.  The petition was signed by diggers at Bendigo, Ballarat, Castlemaine, McIvor (Heathcote), Mount Alexander (Harcourt) and other diggings. 

The petition was brought to Melbourne and presented to Lieutenant Governor Charles Joseph La Trobe, on the 1st August, 1853.  Most of its demands including the reduction in the licence fee, were rejected.  Eventually the diggers' dissatisfaction erupted, culminating in the Eureka uprising at Ballarat, on 3rd December 1854".

The article below about the Eureka Rebellion provides more information on the Eureka Uprising on Wikipedia.

From Wikipedia –

“The Eureka Rebellion in 1854 was a rebellion of gold miners of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, who revolted against the colonial authority of the United Kingdom. The Battle of the Eureka Stockade, by which the rebellion is popularly known, was fought between miners and the Colonial forces of Australia on 3 December 1854 at Eureka Lead and named for the stockade structure erected by the miners during the conflict. The rebellion lasted for less than half an hour and resulted in the deaths of at least 27 people, the majority of whom were rebels.

The event was the culmination of a period of civil disobedience in the Ballarat region during the Victorian gold rush with miners objecting to the expense of a miner’s licence, taxation via the licence without representation and the actions of the government, the police and military. The local rebellion grew from a Ballarat Reform League movement and culminated in the erection by the rebels of a crude battlement and a swift and deadly siege by colonial forces.”

Eureka - Wikipedia

 
          

 John Black Henderson's painting of the Eureka Rebellion. 

 From the Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW.

 
Thomas and Leonard arrived on the goldfields at a very volatile time, politically. However, I think they luckily managed to avoid the major Eureka Rebellion, as the newspaper article places them on the diggings at Mount Alexander, at least until November, 1855, and then at some point after that, they have travelled south to Ballarat.  

This wonderful painting of early Ballarat, titled "Old Ballarat as it was in the Summer of 1853-54" was painted in 1884 by Eugene Von Guerard from sketches done by him when in Australia. It was a gift of James Oddie at the Eureka Day, 1885, to the Ballarat Art Gallery.

It shows Ballarat in the very infancy of its development, with hundreds of tents dotted across a cleared landscape.   It is well worth a visit to the gallery just to study this painting, as this is similar to how Ballarat would have appeared to Thomas and Leonard, on their arrival there, after 1855.

Extract from “Australia in the Victorian Age – by Michael Cannon” – Life on the Goldfields.

By one way or another, most of the exhausted gold-seekers eventually arrived at the diggings. Their first impression was unforgettable – vast plains and valleys from which all the trees had vanished, with thousands of holes dug in every direction, men’s heads bobbing up and down as they broke new ground, cradles rattling as they washed the dirt to retrieve precious specks of gold, tents pitched everywhere, stores flying flags of every nation, soldiers galloping around to inspect permits to dig.

Here at last the weary traveller might feel that he could come to rest, but in reality for most their trials were just beginning. There was infinite sorrow yet to be suffered in the lives of these people who had heard fantastic tales of picking up fortunes off the ground, who had left their families, undertaken the arduous journey to the goldfields, scratched to make a living, and often enough died without ever seeing their homes, wives or children. Worse still was the fate of many who took their families along and saw them die of disease, starvation or mere loss of hope. Yet the lust for gold which possess all kinds of men kept them pecking away at the surface of the strange and merciless land.

 

From advertisements in the Melbourne newspapers, we know that the family back home in England were keen to keep in touch with Thomas and Leonard.  Were the boys ever able to collect their mail from Melbourne, and to hear the news from home.  We'll never know, but can hopefully imagine that they did, and that in return, they could send mail home, so that the family knew how they were faring.  It would be amazing to have copies of these letters today.

I'll include the first paragraph only once for the four articles I've found, then just the date of the newspaper, heading and details of mail to be collected.

The Argus (Melbourne) Tuesday 12 December 1854

GENERAL POST OFFICE, Melbourne. - List of Unclaimed Letters for week ending 9th December, 1854. No. 28.

Parties applying for Letters at the General Post Office, are particularly requested to give the correct number of the letter, and also the date and number of the list in which they may have observed their names, as such reference will materially facilitate delivery. Persons in the country making written applications, in addition to the number of the letter, and the date and number of the list, are requested to state where they expect their letters from, and any information which may tend to prevent an unnecessary transmission of letters.

Application to be made at the General Delivery Department, corner of Elizabeth and Bourke streets.

The next list will be published on the 19th December.

A. McCRAE, Postmaster-General.

195 Greenbank, Thos

           __________________________________________________________

The Argus (Melbourne), Saturday 20 January 1855

GENERAL POST OFFICE, Melbourne. - List of Unclaimed Letters for week ending 8th January, 1855.

List No. 1.

64 Greenbank, Thomas

           _____________________________________________________

The Argus (Melbourne), Monday 22 January 1855

GENERAL POST OFFICE, Melbourne.— List of Unclaimed Letters for week ending 19th January, 1855.

List No. 2.

344-6 Greenbank, Thos, 3 (letters)

                      __________________________________________________________

The Age (Melbourne), Friday 2 November 1855  

No. 40.   General Post Office, Melbourne. LIST OF UNCLAIMED SHIP LETTERS FOR THE WEEK ENDING 31st OCTOBER, 1855. 

319 Greenbank, Thos

          ____________________________________________________________

The next sighting we have of Thomas and Leonard, is a Miner's Right which gives their location as Black Lead, which is approximately 2.9 miles or 4.7 kilometers west of Buninyong.  You will find it in the map above, in the lower central area. Read more about Black Lead with this link and also here.

In May 1857 the Age newspaper reported:

Black Lead. – There are only a few claims working on the ground, and the general aspect of affairs is dull.  The neighbourhood still contains a considerable population however, and if the ground should be proved farther ahead, the lead might turn out to be more remunerative than hitherto.  The difficulties have been very great on this line, and it is no wonder that the newer and easier workings should draw off the miners from Black Lead.

From victorianplaces.com.au

"Black Lead was a gold-mining village south of Ballarat, situated on the Leigh River/Yarrowee River and 3 km west of Buninyong.

It took about four years after the initial mining of alluvial gold on the Ballarat diggings for exploration for deeper gold to occur in the Buninyong district. The Black Lead was one of the first to be found (1856), and the name arose from the dark colour of the soil and rock in which the lead was worked.

An Anglican school was opened in 1857 as the area became settled. In 1865, Bailliere’s Victorian gazetteer recorded six quartz crushing mills at Black Lead, along with three hotels and an estimated population of 1050 people. Mining activity appears to have declined soon afterwards, as the census population in 1871 was 218 people and there was no further census report until 1911 (68 people). The school closed in 1876.

Black Lead became a farming district, and the main reminder of its existence was the post office which ran until 1956".

I sighted two Miner's Rights for Thomas and Leonard Greenbank, about thirty years ago, when the Public Record's Office of Victoria (PROV), was located at Laverton, Melbourne.  I was accessing and copying Land Selection papers at the time, however, for some reason, I didn't get copies of the Miner's Rights. 

I have recently been to the new PROV repository in North Melbourne, and so far haven't been able to locate the Miner's Rights, again.  They are usually retained by the person to whom they are issued, and in most cases not kept after they expire, so it was quite unusual for them to be in the collection.  I'll keep looking, but in the meantime, the illustration below shows what one looks like.

Leonard took part in a wrestling competition in Ballarat at the Charlie Napier hotel, in 1857.  It was over the Easter period, when they must have all downed their picks and shovels and taken a well-earned break.  In 1857, 14 April is a Tuesday.  Good prize money was awarded to the winners, so the competition was strongly contested.  The first article does not give an initial to the name Greenbank, but the second one mentions, Leonard Greenbank, so I think we can safely assume that Leonard is the participant in the first match as well.  I have only included the highlights of the articles below, as they are too lengthy to include them entirely.

     

    The Star - Ballarat, Vic. Tuesday 14 April 1857 - Trove

    WRESTLING AT THE CHARLIE NAPIER

     Yesterday wrestling according to the Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Durham styles,
     took place at the above-mentioned place: the attendance was good, and the whole
     proceedings passed off extremely well. The prizes contested for were the light weights 
     in wrestling, and the running leaps; to-morrow (this day) there will be wrestling of the
     eleven stone men, and the standing leaping. The prizes for the light weights were as
     follows:-1st prize, £15 ; 2nd, £6 ; 2nd to 4th standards, £3 10s. ; 4th to 8th standards, 
     £2 ; 8th to 16th, £1.   For the running high leaps, the 1st prize was £5; 2nd £3 ; 3rd, £2.

     FIRST ROUND-LIGHT WEIGHTS – consisted of 18 contests.

     13. Brown and Greenbank.

     Brown would not oppose, and Greenbank consequently stood.

     SECOND ROUND – consisted of 9 contests.

     2. Hope and Greenbank.

     This was the best wrestle up to the present time, there being two rounds,  in the first
     neither went down, in the last Greenbank being exhausted fell easily.

     At the conclusion of the second round, and the next amusement consisted of leaping.

     LEAPING MATCH - RUNNING HIGH LEAPS, followed by a THIRD, FOURTH, FIFTH
     AND SIXTH ROUND.  

 

 

   Extract from the following newspaper on Trove.

   The Star (Ballarat, Vic.) Wednesday 30 December 1857 

   WRESTLING AT THE CHARLIE NAPIER.
 

   The attendance yesterday was not so large as on the previous day, owing doubtless to the 

   counter attractions of the cricket match.

   (There were four rounds prior to the following) -

   It was about two o'clock before the ring was cleared for this struggle, for which prizes to the   

   amount of £70 were offered. About fifty men entered themselves, who in the first round were 

   matched as follows : -

    Geo Tindale - Stood                          Leonard Greenbank - Fell

    Paragraph at end reads. – The fire in the main-road here caused the proceedings to break up,   

   otherwise another round would have come off.

Drawing above by S.T. Gill, "Concert Room, Charlie Napier Hotel, Ballarat, June 1855 - Thatcher's Popular Songs", shows a typical night of entertainment on the goldfields.

From the following newspaper article, we see that a "Mr. Greenbank", most probably Thomas, is very much involved in a movement by the local miners at Scotchman's Lead, south of Black Lead and south west of Buninyong.  The miners are protesting against the leasing of private of land, to a group of twelve miners, whilst the rest of the miners have paid for their licences, to mine the said land, which they believe is registered for that purpose.  If the group of twelve are successful, it would mean that the majority of miners would be excluded.

As Mr. Greenbank seconded the first resolution, it would appear that he was at the forefront of the action against the owner, Mr. Webb.

A "Mr. McDonnell", proposed the first resolution, in the article, and I believe he is the same Mr. Andrew McDonell, who wrote the diary of the voyage out to Australia.  He also appears a few years later in this story, so it is becoming apparent that the Greenbank brothers have continued their friendship and adventures with him on the goldfields. 

 

  The Star, Friday -  22 May 1857 p.2 - Trove

  MEETING AT THE SCOTCHMAN'S LEAD NEAR BUNINYONG.

   Yesterday a public, meeting was held at this Lead about half-past twelve o'clock, for the 
   purpose of  considering the question of mining on private property. There were about 
   
  800 persons present, who evinced the deepest interest in the subject which had called   
   them together. Mr McTaggart occupied the chair.

   The chairman in opening the meeting, called upon the assemblage to conduct themselves 
   in an orderly and becoming manner. He referred to the right of the Crown to all precious 
   metals, and argued that the right to the gold was vested in the Crown, and that no owner 
   of private property could sell, alienate, or bargain away such right.

   Mr McDonnell proposed the first resolution. -  "That it has become apparent to  this
   meeting that Mr Webb has entered into a contract with certain parties, leasing away the   
   gold belonging to the miners by virtue of their miner's rights, and registered on the Lead 
   by the Surveyor with the knowledge and consent of the owner, (Mr Webb,) That this 
   meeting do appoint a committee to raise subscriptions to defray the expense of their 
   counsel to set aside the illegal contract framed between Mr Webb and the supposed 
   leaseholders.''

   Mr Greenbank seconded the resolution, which was carried unanimously.

   Mr Griffiths proposed the second resolution- "That this meeting pledges itself to resist, 
   by every possible means within its power, the introduction of plant or other material, with
   the exception of claims duly registered according to the Gold Fields' Act."

   Mr Dalton seconded the resolution, which was carried unanimously.

 

   Mr McDonnell brought forward the third resolution- "That this meeting expresses the
   strongest disapprobation that men of their own class in society should betray their fellow-
   miners, by entering into a contract to appropriate to twelve men ground which has been 
   registered as belonging to 80 miners, and which, by the tacit consent of the parties 
   referred to, belongs to the whole number of miners, by virtue of the Local Court 
   regulations."

   Mr S. Thompson seconded the resolution, which was carried.

   Mr Thompson proposed the fourth resolution, - "That a petition representing the danger 
   of an  immediate collision between the miners and owners of private property in the 
   Buninyong district, and more especially on this lead, be presented to the Government, 
   and that such petition set forth, that the peace and welfare of the colony of Victoria depend
   upon the Government at once bringing in some measure to settle and adjust the most 
   important question of mining on private property."

   Mr A. McMillan, a member of the Buninyong Local Court, seconded the resolution, which
   was carried.

   In the course of his speech he called upon the meeting to act constitutionally and 
   peaceably.

   Mr Harvey, the surveyor, explained his share in the transaction, on the part of Mr Webb.

   Mr Friel, another member of the Buninyong Local Court, then moved the fifth resolution, 
   -  "That this meeting, after hearing the explanation of Mr Harvey, begs to express the 
   strongest disapprobation of the conduct of Mr Webb, the holder of private property on 
   Scotchman's Lead."  

  
   This speaker urged upon the meeting the necessity of peaceful conduct.

   Mr A. Stewart seconded the resolution.

   Carried.

   This meeting was one of the most deter-mined, with respect to the attitude assumed, 
   regarding the necessity of an immediate settlement of the question of mining upon private 
   property. The injustice inflicted by the present unsatisfactory state of the law, appeared to 
   be keenly felt by all, and it is to be hoped that the new Ministry will speedily adjust this 
   vexed question.

   Messrs McTaggart, Friel, and A. Stewart, are authorised to receive subscriptions towards 
   feeing counsel.

The following, is from the publication, “Three Times Blest – A History of Buninyong and District 1837 -1901”, by Peter Griffiths.

“Throughout 1856 things steadily improved.  From time to time the diggers partly deserted to other rushes, but in general the prospects looked good.  The ‘old hands’ always remained, showing that there was plenty of gold to be had.  The best holes on the Chalk Hills and Hard Hills were traced to be running almost due east and west.  On the west they ran down to the Black Lead, while to the east that dropped away towards Mr. Webb’s paddock, to add fuel to the fire on the question of mining on private property.  Webb had no qualms about selling Claims 25 feet square for six months purchase at £5 per Claim.  This was the beginning of the famous Scotchmans Lead.  The more observant noted that almost every lead discovered, some richer than others, ran towards the Leigh River.

In July 1856 John Adams (gold purchaser in Buninyong), had purchased £2600 worth gold in ten weeks from the Black Lead, equivalent to 1000 oz per week.”

The photos above and below show mullock heaps in the vicinity of Scotchman's Lead, south west of Buninyong, with the sunset washing them in golden tones.

Drawing above by S. T. Gill, of diggers reading news from home.

A few months later Thomas and Leonard were unlucky enough to have their tent ransacked and several items stolen as per the following article.  I wonder if Thomas got his silver watch back!

     The Star  - (Ballarat, Vic.) -  Tuesday, 7 July 1857 - Trove

 

     BUNINYONG POLICE COURT.

     (Before J. Cogdon, Esq., P.M.)

     George Francis, alias William Smith, and James Gray, were charged with stealing two 
     pair of  trowsers and other articles of clothing, from the tent of Thomas Greenbank, at 
     the Black Lead, on the 11th May last.

     It appeared that the prosecutor's tent was, on the day in question entered during his 
     abscence, the place ransacked, and the trowsers and other articles since found, together 
     with, a silver watch, and other things not found, were stolen. On Monday last, the 
     prosecutor saw one of the prisoners   at the Scotchman's Lead wearing one of the pair of 
     trowsers, which were of a dark plaid pattern.  

     A search warrant having been issued and put in the hands of Constable Boyle,  the 
     articles mentioned were found in the tent of the prisoners; one of them (Gray) having a 
     pair of moleskin trowsers, the prosecutor's property on him at the time.  The prosecutor 
     identified the stolen property, and in particular the dark trowsers by two patches with 
     which he had mended them.

     
     The Bench remanded the prisoners till next Wednesday, to give the police an opportunity 
     of  tracing the remainder of the property.

Buninyong township as it would have been at the time Thomas and Leonard were on the goldfields nearby.  Read more about this early township on the Federation University Australia site, here.

To read the next stage of Thomas and Leonard's Life, go to the post titled,

Success, a Wedding and a Funeral 

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With many thanks to Helen Greenbank whose assistance and time in editing this Blog is very much appreciated and to Steve Thomas for verifying general gold mining information.