Maybe this mate
The Legend of Billy Blue
There are today perhaps very few who will recall the legend of Billy Blue. Billy Blue was a part aboriginal who with his gin lived somewhere in the Shoalhaven Gorges. Others persist he lived in a particular cave which for at least two generations has never been found and with increasing years its location is becoming even more remote.
Come what may, there is ample evidence that Billy Blue knew where there was a substantial amount of gold to be found. Billy was a quiet sort of chap who kept very much to himself. Periodically he would come into Marulan with small quantities of gold which he would exchange for such commodities as he required and silently and almost invisibly return to his hideout. Experts of the day were satisfied that it was not alluvial wash golf but had been hacked out of a reef.
Bill was a constant visitor to Marulan for a number of years and never seemed to be at a loss for the precious metal. Many indeed, we are told, who tried to track Billy to its source but without success. So expert was Billys bushcraft he was soon lost to any followers. Seeing he was so well watched he conceived a round about course arriving in Marulan by one route and returning by another. The old hands used to speak of two well known tracks known as McCallums and Bradleys Tracks. It is quite apparent Billy had quite a number of routes through the scrub known only to himself.
His gin would wait for his return and should she espie any intruders she would signal him and Billy would take the queue and quickly take another trail through the bush.
As age progressed Billy got very sick and he had to be given medical aid. He was hospitalised and gradually sank lower and lower. As he was about to die the story goes, he was asked to reveal the location of his gold. He firmly refused but said if they got his brother he would tell him. At this period there was a considerable aboriginal camp reserve near Yass Town known as Hollywood. By the time they were able to get his brother to his bedside Billy had passed on. It is more than possible Billys widow never knew its exact location for his death brought an end to any more gold. So the secret of Billy Blues gold passed to his grave with him.
Prospectors and geologists have repeatedly tried to find its source without success. However gold there was and the older prospectors and locals still aver the gold is still there somewhere down in the Shoalhaven gorges.
Source: The Legend of Billy Blue by SJ Tazewell (1981), in Goulburn & District Historical Society Bulletin No.157.
There was also a book that was available online at
http://www.ozhistorymine.com/html/billy_blue_.html
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