![We’ve already seen several new attributes in our templates that aren’t part of the HTML
specification. Examples include the double-curly notation for data binding, ng-
controller for specifying which controller oversees which part of the view, and ng-
model, which binds an input to part of the model. We call these HTML extension
directives.
Angular comes with many directives that help you define the view for your app. We’ll
see more of them soon. These directives can define what we commonly view as the
template. They can declaratively set up how your application works or be used to create
reusable components.
And you’re not limited to the directives that Angular comes with. You can write your
own to extend HTML’s template abilities to do anything you can dream of.
An Example: Shopping Cart
Let’s look at a slightly larger example that shows off a bit more of Angular. Let’s imagine
that we’re going to build a shopping app. Somewhere in the app we’ll need to show the
user’s shopping cart and let him edit it. Let’s skip straight to that part.
<html ng-app='myApp'>
<head>
<title>Your Shopping Cart</title>
</head>
<body ng-controller='CartController'>
<h1>Your Order</h1>
<div ng-repeat='item in items'>
<span>{{item.title}}</span>
<input ng-model='item.quantity'>
<span>{{item.price | currency}}</span>
<span>{{item.price * item.quantity | currency}}</span>
<button ng-click="remove($index)">Remove</button>
</div>
<script src="angular.js"></script>
<script>
function CartController($scope) {
$scope.items = [
{title: 'Paint pots', quantity: 8, price: 3.95},
{title: 'Polka dots', quantity: 17, price: 12.95},
{title: 'Pebbles', quantity: 5, price: 6.95}
];
$scope.remove = function(index) {
$scope.items.splice(index, 1);
}
}
</script>
</body>
</html>
6 | Chapter 1: Introduction to AngularJS
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![The {{ }} in the <span> sets up a one-way relationship that says “insert a value here.”
We want that effect, but the application also needs to know when the user changes the
quantity so it can change the total price.
We’llkeepchangesinsyncwithourmodelbyusingng-model.Theng-modeldeclaration
inserts the value of item.quantity into the text field, but it also automatically updates
item.quantity whenever the user types a new value.
<span>{{item.price | currency}}</span>
<span>{{item.price * item.quantity | currency}}</span>
We want the unit price and total price to be formatted as dollars. Angular comes with
a feature called filters that lets us transform text, and there’s a bundled filter called
currency that will do this dollar formatting for us. We’ll look at filters more in the next
chapter.
<button ng-click='remove($index)'>Remove</button>
This allows users to remove items from their carts by clicking a Remove button next to
the product. We’ve set it up so that clicking this button calls a remove() function. We’ve
also passed in $index, which contains the iteration number of the ng-repeat, so we
know which item to remove.
function CartController($scope) {
This CartController manages the logic of the shopping cart. We’ll tell Angular that
the controller needs something called $scope by putting it here. The $scope is what lets
us bind data to elements in the UI.
$scope.items = [
{title: 'Paint pots', quantity: 8, price: 3.95},
{title: 'Polka dots', quantity: 17, price: 12.95},
{title: 'Pebbles', quantity: 5, price: 6.95}
];
By defining $scope.items, I’ve created a dummy data hash to represent the collection
of items in the user’s shopping cart. We want to make them available to data bind with
the UI, so we’ll add them to $scope.
Of course, a real version of this can’t just work in memory, and will need to talk to a
server to properly persist the data. We’ll get to that in later chapters.
$scope.remove = function(index) {
$scope.items.splice(index, 1);
}
Wewanttheremove() functionavailabletobindintheUI,sowe’veaddedthisto$scope
as well. For the in-memory version of the shopping cart, the remove() function can just
delete items from the array. Because the list of <div>s created by ng-repeat is data
8 | Chapter 1: Introduction to AngularJS
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- 8. AngularJS by Brad Green and Shyam Seshadri Copyright © 2013 Brad Green and Shyam Seshadri. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Published by O’Reilly Media, Inc., 1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472. O’Reilly books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. Online editions are alsoavailableformosttitles(http://my.safaribooksonline.com).Formoreinformation,contactourcorporate/ institutional sales department: 800-998-9938 or [email protected]. Editors: Simon St. Laurent and Meghan Blanchette Production Editor: Melanie Yarbrough Copyeditor: Rachel Leach Proofreader: Jilly Gagnon Indexer: Judith McConville Cover Designer: Randy Comer Interior Designer: David Futato Illustrator: Rebecca Demarest April 2013: First Edition Revision History for the First Edition: 2013-04-05: First release See http://oreilly.com/catalog/errata.csp?isbn=9781449344856 for release details. Nutshell Handbook, the Nutshell Handbook logo, and the O’Reilly logo are registered trademarks of O’Reilly Media, Inc. AngularJS, the image of a thornback cowfish, and related trade dress are trademarks of O’Reilly Media, Inc. Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and O’Reilly Media, Inc., was aware of a trade‐ mark claim, the designations have been printed in caps or initial caps. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and authors assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. ISBN: 978-1-449-34485-6 LSI www.it-ebooks.info
- 9. Table of Contents Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii 1. Introduction to AngularJS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Concepts 1 Client-Side Templates 2 Model View Controller (MVC) 3 Data Binding 3 Dependency Injection 5 Directives 5 An Example: Shopping Cart 6 Up Next 9 2. Anatomy of an AngularJS Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Invoking Angular 11 Loading the Script 11 Declaring Angular’s Boundaries with ng-app 12 Model View Controller 12 Templates and Data Binding 14 Displaying Text 15 Form Inputs 16 A Few Words on Unobtrusive JavaScript 19 Lists, Tables, and Other Repeated Elements 21 Hiding and Showing 23 CSS Classes and Styles 24 Considerations for src and href Attributes 26 Expressions 26 Separating UI Responsibilities with Controllers 27 Publishing Model Data with Scopes 28 Observing Model Changes with $watch 29 iii www.it-ebooks.info
- 10. Performance Considerations in watch() 31 Organizing Dependencies with Modules 33 How Many Modules Do I Need? 36 Formatting Data with Filters 37 Changing Views with Routes and $location 38 index.html 39 list.html 39 detail.html 40 controllers.js 40 Talking to Servers 41 Changing the DOM with Directives 43 index.html 44 controllers.js 44 Validating User Input 45 Moving On 46 3. Developing in AngularJS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Project Organization 47 Tools 50 IDEs 50 Running Your Application 51 With Yeoman 51 Without Yeoman 51 Testing with AngularJS 52 Karma 52 Unit Tests 54 End-to-End/Integration Tests 55 Compilation 57 Other Awesome Tools 59 Debugging 59 Batarang 60 Yeoman: Optimizing Your Workflow 64 Installing Yeoman 65 Starting a Fresh AngularJS project 65 Running Your Server 65 Adding New Routes, Views, and Controllers 65 The Testing Story 66 Building Your Project 66 Integrating AngularJS with RequireJS 67 4. Analyzing an AngularJS App. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 The Application 77 iv | Table of Contents www.it-ebooks.info
- 11. Relationship Between Model, Controller, and Template 78 The Model 79 Controllers, Directives, and Services, Oh My! 80 Services 80 Directives 84 Controllers 85 The Templates 89 The Tests 95 Unit Tests 96 Scenario Tests 99 5. Communicating with Servers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Communicating Over $http 101 Configuring Your Request Further 103 Setting HTTP Headers 104 Caching Responses 105 Transformations on Requests and Responses 106 Unit Testing 107 Working with RESTful Resources 108 The Declaration 111 Custom Methods 111 No Callbacks! (Unless You Really Want Them) 112 Simplified Server-Side Operations 112 Unit Test the ngResource 112 The $q and the Promise 113 Response Interception 115 Security Considerations 115 JSON Vulnerability 116 XSRF 116 6. Directives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Directives and HTML Validation 119 API Overview 120 Naming Your Directive 121 The Directive Definition Object 122 Transclusion 126 Compile and Link Functions 126 Scopes 128 Manipulating DOM Elements 132 Controllers 133 Table of Contents | v www.it-ebooks.info
- 12. Moving On 136 7. Other Concerns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 $location 137 HTML5 Mode and Hashbang Mode 140 AngularJS Module Methods 142 Where’s the Main Method? 142 Loading and Dependencies 143 Convenience Methods 144 Communicating Between Scopes with $on, $emit, and $broadcast 146 Cookies 148 Internationalization and Localization 148 What Can I Do in AngularJS? 149 How Do I Get It All Working? 149 Common Gotchas 150 Sanitizing HTML & the Sanitize Module 150 Linky 152 8. Cheatsheet and Recipes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Wrapping a jQuery Datepicker 153 ng-model 155 Binding select 155 Calling select 155 The Rest of the Example 156 The Teams List App: Filtering and Controller Communication 157 The Search Box 161 The Combo Boxes 161 The Check Box 161 The Repeater 161 File Upload in AngularJS 162 Using Socket.IO 164 A Simple Pagination Service 167 Working with Servers and Login 171 Conclusion 174 Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 vi | Table of Contents www.it-ebooks.info
- 13. Preface I can trace Angular’s beginnings to 2009, on a project called Google Feedback. We’d gone through months of frustration with our development speed and ability to write testable code. At around the six month mark, we had around 17,000 lines of front-end code. At that point, one of the team members, Misko Hevery, made a bold statement that he’d be able to rewrite the whole thing in two weeks using an open source library that he’d created as a hobby. Ifiguredthatatwoweekdelaycouldn’thurtusthatmuchandwe’datleastbeentertained by Misko scrambling to build something. Misko missed his time estimate. It took three weeks. We were all astounded, but even more astounding was that the line count for this new app had dropped from 17,000 to a mere 1,500. It seemed that Misko was onto something worth pursuing. Misko and I decided we’d built a team around the concepts he started with a simple charter: to simplify the web developer’s experience. Shyam Seshadri, this book’s co- author, went on to lead the Google Feedback team in developing Angular’s first shipping application. Since then, we’ve developed Angular with guidance both from teams at Google and from hundreds of open source contributors around the world. Thousands of developers rely on Angular in their daily work and contribute to an amazing support network. We’re excited to learn what you’ll teach us. Conventions Used in This Book The following typographical conventions are used in this book: Italic Indicates new terms, URLs, email addresses, filenames, and file extensions. vii www.it-ebooks.info
- 14. Constant width Used for program listings, as well as within paragraphs to refer to program elements such as variable or function names, databases, data types, environment variables, statements, and keywords. Constant width bold Shows commands or other text that should be typed literally by the user. Constant width italic Shows text that should be replaced with user-supplied values or by values deter‐ mined by context. This icon signifies a tip, suggestion, or general note. This icon indicates a warning or caution. Using Code Examples This book is here to help you get your job done. In general, if this book includes code examples, you may use the code in this book in your programs and documentation. You do not need to contact us for permission unless you’re reproducing a significant portion of the code. For example, writing a program that uses several chunks of code from this book does not require permission. Selling or distributing a CD-ROM of examples from O’Reilly books does require permission. Answering a question by citing this book and quoting example code does not require permission. Incorporating a significant amount of example code from this book into your product’s documentation does require per‐ mission. We appreciate, but do not require, attribution. An attribution usually includes the title, author, publisher, and ISBN. For example: “AngularJS by Brad Green and Shyam Se‐ shadri(O’Reilly).Copyright2013BradGreenandShyamSeshadri,978-1-449-34485-6.” If you feel your use of code examples falls outside fair use or the permission given above, feel free to contact us at [email protected]. viii | Preface www.it-ebooks.info
- 15. Safari® Books Online Safari Books Online is an on-demand digital library that delivers ex‐ pert content in both book and video form from the world’s leading authors in technology and business. Technology professionals, software developers, web designers, and business and crea‐ tive professionals use Safari Books Online as their primary resource for research, prob‐ lem solving, learning, and certification training. Safari Books Online offers a range of product mixes and pricing programs for organi‐ zations, government agencies, and individuals. Subscribers have access to thousands of books, training videos, and prepublication manuscripts in one fully searchable database from publishers like O’Reilly Media, Prentice Hall Professional, Addison-Wesley Pro‐ fessional, Microsoft Press, Sams, Que, Peachpit Press, Focal Press, Cisco Press, John Wiley & Sons, Syngress, Morgan Kaufmann, IBM Redbooks, Packt, Adobe Press, FT Press, Apress, Manning, New Riders, McGraw-Hill, Jones & Bartlett, Course Technol‐ ogy, and dozens more. For more information about Safari Books Online, please visit us online. How to Contact Us Please address comments and questions concerning this book to the publisher: O’Reilly Media, Inc. 1005 Gravenstein Highway North Sebastopol, CA 95472 800-998-9938 (in the United States or Canada) 707-829-0515 (international or local) 707-829-0104 (fax) We have a web page for this book, where we list errata, examples, and any additional information. You can access this page at http://oreil.ly/angularJS. To comment or ask technical questions about this book, send email to bookques [email protected]. For more information about our books, courses, conferences, and news, see our website at http://www.oreilly.com. Find us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/oreilly Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/oreillymedia Watch us on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/oreillymedia Preface | ix www.it-ebooks.info
- 16. Acknowledgments We’d like to give special thanks to Misko Hevery, father of Angular, for having the courage to think very differently about how we write web applications and to drive it into reality; to Igor Minar for bringing stability and structure to the Angular project and for building the roots of today’s awesome open source community; to Vojta Jina for creating many parts of Angular, and for giving us the fastest test runner the world has ever seen; to Naomi Black, John Lindquist, and Mathias Matias Niemelä for their expert editing assistance. And finally, thank you to the Angular community for their contri‐ butions, and for teaching us about making Angular great through feedback from build‐ ing real applications. x | Preface www.it-ebooks.info
- 17. CHAPTER 1 Introduction to AngularJS Our ability to create amazing web-based apps is incredible, but the complexity involved in making these apps is similarly incredible. We on the Angular team wanted to relieve the pain involved with developing AJAX applications. At Google, we’d worked through the hard lessons of building large web applications like Gmail, Maps, Calendar, and severalothers.Wethoughtwemightbeabletousetheseexperiencestobenefiteveryone. We wanted writing web apps to feel more like the first time we wrote a few lines of code and stood back in amazement at what we’d made happen. We wanted the coding process to feel more like creating and less like trying to satisfy the strange inner workings of web browsers. At the same time, we wanted an environment that helped us make the design choices that make apps easy to create and understand from the start, but that continue to be the right choices to make our apps easy to test, extend, and maintain as they grow large. We’ve tried to do this in the Angular framework. We’re very excited about the results we’ve achieved. A lot of credit goes to the open source community around Angular who do a fantastic job supporting each other and who have taught us many things. We hope you’ll join our community and help us learn how Angular can be even better. Some of the larger and more involved examples and code snippets are available on a GitHub repository for you to look at, fork, and play with at our GitHub page. Concepts There are a few core ideas that you’ll use throughout an Angular app. As it turns out, we didn’t invent any of these. Instead, we’ve borrowed heavily from successful idioms in other development environments and implemented them in a way that embraces HTML, browsers, and many other familiar web standards. 1 www.it-ebooks.info
- 18. Client-Side Templates Multi-page web applications create their HTML by assembling and joining it with data on the server, and then shipping the finished pages up to the browser. Most single-page applications—also known as AJAX apps—do this as well, to some extent. Angular is different in that the template and data get shipped to the browser to be assembled there. The role of the server then becomes only to serve as static resources for the templates and to properly serve the data required by those templates. Let’s see an example of what assembling this data and template on the browser looks like in Angular. We’ll take the obligatory Hello, World example, but instead of writing “Hello, World” as a single string, let’s structure the greeting “Hello” as data that we could change later. For it, we’ll create our template in hello.html: <html ng-app> <head> <script src="angular.js"></script> <script src="controllers.js"></script> </head> <body> <div ng-controller='HelloController'> <p>{{greeting.text}}, World</p> </div> </body> </html> And our logic in controllers.js: function HelloController($scope) { $scope.greeting = { text: 'Hello' }; } Loading hello.html into any browser will then produce what we see in Figure 1-1: Figure 1-1. Hello, World There are a few interesting things to note here in comparison with most methods in widespread use today: • There are no classes or IDs in the HTML to identify where to attach event listeners. • When HelloController set the greeting.text to Hello, we didn’t have to register any event listeners or write any callbacks. 2 | Chapter 1: Introduction to AngularJS www.it-ebooks.info
- 19. • HelloController is a plain JavaScript class, and doesn’t inherit from anything that Angular provides. • HelloController got the $scope object that it needed without having to create it. • We didn’t have to call the HelloController’s constructor ourselves, or figure out when to call it. We’ll look at more differences soon, but it should be clear already that Angular appli‐ cations are structured very differently than similar applications were in the past. Why have we made these design choices and how does Angular work? Let’s look at some good ideas Angular stole from elsewhere. Model View Controller (MVC) MVC application structure was introduced in the 1970s as part of Smalltalk. From its start in Smalltalk, MVC became popular in nearly every desktop development envi‐ ronment where user interfaces were involved. Whether you were using C++, Java, or Objective-C, there was some flavor of MVC available. Until recently, however, MVC was all but foreign to web development. The core idea behind MVC is that you have clear separation in your code between managing its data (model), the application logic (controller), and presenting the data to the user (view). The view gets data from the model to display to the user. When a user interacts with the application by clicking or typing, the controller responds by changing data in the model. Finally, the model notifies the view that a change has occurred so that it can update what it displays. InAngularapplications,theviewistheDocumentObjectModel(DOM),thecontrollers are JavaScript classes, and the model data is stored in object properties. We think MVC is neat for several reasons. First, it gives you a mental model for where to put what, so you don’t have to invent it every time. Other folks collaborating on your project will have an instant leg up on understanding what you’ve written, as they’ll know you’re using MVC structure to organize your code. Perhaps most importantly, we’ll claim that it delivers great benefits in making your app easier to extend, maintain, and test. Data Binding Before AJAX single-page apps were common, platforms like Rails, PHP, or JSP helped us create the user interface (UI) by merging strings of HTML with data before sending it to the users to display it. Concepts | 3 www.it-ebooks.info
- 20. Libraries like jQuery extended this model to the client and let us follow a similar style, but with the ability to update, part of the DOM separately, rather than updating the whole page. Here, we merge template HTML strings with data, then insert the result where we want it in the DOM by setting innerHtml on a placeholder element. Thisallworksprettywell,butwhenyouwanttoinsertfresherdataintotheUI,orchange the data based on user input, you need to do quite a bit of non-trivial work to make sure you get the data into the correct state, both in the UI and in JavaScript properties. But what if we could have all this work done for us without writing code? What if we could just declare which parts of the UI map to which JavaScript properties and have them sync automatically? This style of programming is called data binding. We included it in Angular because it works great with MVC to eliminate code when writing your view and model. Most of the work in moving data from one to the other just happens automatically. To see this in action, let’s take the first example and make it dynamic. As is, the Hello Controller sets the model greeting.text once and it never changes from then on. To make it live, let’s change the example by adding a text input that can change the value of greeting.text as the user types. Here’s the new template: <html ng-app> <head> <script src="angular.js"></script> <script src="controllers.js"></script> </head> <body> <div ng-controller='HelloController'> <input ng-model='greeting.text'> <p>{{greeting.text}}, World</p> </div> </body> </html> The controller, HelloController, can stay exactly the same. Loading it in a browser, we’d see the screen captured in Figure 1-2. Figure 1-2. The default state of the greeting app If we replace Hello with Hi in the input field, we’d see the screen captured in Figure 1-3. 4 | Chapter 1: Introduction to AngularJS www.it-ebooks.info
- 21. Figure 1-3. The Greeting App with input changed Without ever registering a change listener on the input field, we have a UI that will dynamically update. The same would be true for changes coming to and from the server. In our controller, we could make a request to our server, get the response, and set $scope.greeting.text to equal what it returns. Angular would automatically update both the input and the text in the curly braces to that value. Dependency Injection We mentioned it before, but it bears repeating that there’s a lot going on with Hello Controller that we didn’t have to write. For example, the $scope object that does our data binding is passed to us automatically; we didn’t have to create it by calling any function. We just asked for it by putting it in HelloController’s constructor. As we’ll find out in later chapters, $scope isn’t the only thing we can ask for. If we want to data bind to the location URL in the user’s browser, we can ask for an object that manages this by putting $location in our constructor, like so: function HelloController($scope, $location) { $scope.greeting = { text: 'Hello' }; // use $location for something good here... } We get this magical effect through Angular’s dependency injection system. Dependency injection lets us follow a development style in which, instead of creating dependencies, our classes just ask for what they need. This follows a design pattern called the Law of Demeter, also known as the principle of least knowledge. Since our HelloController’s job is to set up the initial state for the greeting model, this pattern would say that it shouldn’t worry about anything else, like how $scope gets created, or where to find it. This feature isn’t just for objects created by the Angular framework. You can write the rest of this code as well. Directives One of the best parts of Angular is that you can write your templates as HTML. You can do this because at the core of the framework we’ve included a powerful DOM trans‐ formation engine that lets you extend HTML’s syntax. Concepts | 5 www.it-ebooks.info
- 22. We’ve already seen several new attributes in our templates that aren’t part of the HTML specification. Examples include the double-curly notation for data binding, ng- controller for specifying which controller oversees which part of the view, and ng- model, which binds an input to part of the model. We call these HTML extension directives. Angular comes with many directives that help you define the view for your app. We’ll see more of them soon. These directives can define what we commonly view as the template. They can declaratively set up how your application works or be used to create reusable components. And you’re not limited to the directives that Angular comes with. You can write your own to extend HTML’s template abilities to do anything you can dream of. An Example: Shopping Cart Let’s look at a slightly larger example that shows off a bit more of Angular. Let’s imagine that we’re going to build a shopping app. Somewhere in the app we’ll need to show the user’s shopping cart and let him edit it. Let’s skip straight to that part. <html ng-app='myApp'> <head> <title>Your Shopping Cart</title> </head> <body ng-controller='CartController'> <h1>Your Order</h1> <div ng-repeat='item in items'> <span>{{item.title}}</span> <input ng-model='item.quantity'> <span>{{item.price | currency}}</span> <span>{{item.price * item.quantity | currency}}</span> <button ng-click="remove($index)">Remove</button> </div> <script src="angular.js"></script> <script> function CartController($scope) { $scope.items = [ {title: 'Paint pots', quantity: 8, price: 3.95}, {title: 'Polka dots', quantity: 17, price: 12.95}, {title: 'Pebbles', quantity: 5, price: 6.95} ]; $scope.remove = function(index) { $scope.items.splice(index, 1); } } </script> </body> </html> 6 | Chapter 1: Introduction to AngularJS www.it-ebooks.info
- 23. The resulting UI looks like the screenshot in Figure 1-4. Figure 1-4. The Shopping Cart UI The following is a brief tour of what’s going on here. The rest of the book is dedicated to a more in-depth explanation. Let’s start at the top: <html ng-app> The ng-app attribute tells Angular which parts of the page it should manage. Since we’ve placed it on the <html> element, we’re telling Angular that we want it to manage the whole page. This will often be what you want, but you might want to place it on a <div> withintheappifyou’reintegratingAngularwithanexistingappthatusesothermethods to manage the page. <body ng-controller='CartController'> In Angular, you manage areas of the page with JavaScript classes called controllers. By including a controller in the body tag, I’m declaring that CartController will manage everything between <body> and </body>. <div ng-repeat='item in items'> The ng-repeat says to copy the DOM inside this <div> once for every element in an array called items. On every copy of the div, it will also set a property named item to the current element so we can use it in the template. As you can see, this results in three <div>s each, containing the product title, quantity, unit price, total price, and a button to remove the item entirely. <span>{{item.title}}</span> As we showed in the “Hello, World” example, data binding via {{ }} lets us insert the value of a variable into part of the page and keep it in sync. The full expression {{item.title}} retrieves the current item in the iteration and then inserts the contents of that item’s title property into the DOM. <input ng-model='item.quantity'> The ng-model definition creates data binding between the input field and the value of item.quantity. An Example: Shopping Cart | 7 www.it-ebooks.info
- 24. The {{ }} in the <span> sets up a one-way relationship that says “insert a value here.” We want that effect, but the application also needs to know when the user changes the quantity so it can change the total price. We’llkeepchangesinsyncwithourmodelbyusingng-model.Theng-modeldeclaration inserts the value of item.quantity into the text field, but it also automatically updates item.quantity whenever the user types a new value. <span>{{item.price | currency}}</span> <span>{{item.price * item.quantity | currency}}</span> We want the unit price and total price to be formatted as dollars. Angular comes with a feature called filters that lets us transform text, and there’s a bundled filter called currency that will do this dollar formatting for us. We’ll look at filters more in the next chapter. <button ng-click='remove($index)'>Remove</button> This allows users to remove items from their carts by clicking a Remove button next to the product. We’ve set it up so that clicking this button calls a remove() function. We’ve also passed in $index, which contains the iteration number of the ng-repeat, so we know which item to remove. function CartController($scope) { This CartController manages the logic of the shopping cart. We’ll tell Angular that the controller needs something called $scope by putting it here. The $scope is what lets us bind data to elements in the UI. $scope.items = [ {title: 'Paint pots', quantity: 8, price: 3.95}, {title: 'Polka dots', quantity: 17, price: 12.95}, {title: 'Pebbles', quantity: 5, price: 6.95} ]; By defining $scope.items, I’ve created a dummy data hash to represent the collection of items in the user’s shopping cart. We want to make them available to data bind with the UI, so we’ll add them to $scope. Of course, a real version of this can’t just work in memory, and will need to talk to a server to properly persist the data. We’ll get to that in later chapters. $scope.remove = function(index) { $scope.items.splice(index, 1); } Wewanttheremove() functionavailabletobindintheUI,sowe’veaddedthisto$scope as well. For the in-memory version of the shopping cart, the remove() function can just delete items from the array. Because the list of <div>s created by ng-repeat is data 8 | Chapter 1: Introduction to AngularJS www.it-ebooks.info
- 25. Another Random Scribd Document with Unrelated Content
- 26. It had not been by any means the most popular rendezvous of the miners, but on this day it received a huge advertisement, and profited accordingly. We walked to the end of the street, where the bustle was considerably less, and here we noticed a large wooden erection bearing the sign, "Tom Doyle, Kanowna Hotel." "That is the name Bill mentioned," said Phil; "he seems a fairly important individual in his own way. Suppose we interview him, or at least have dinner in his mansion." To the latter part of the suggestion I was agreeable, and so in we went. I had met Tom Doyle on several occasions since my arrival in the country; that gentleman was most ubiquitous in his habits, and had a keen scent for gold, so that his lanky figure might be expected anywhere where good prospects had recently been obtained. He was also future mayor of the camp, and so was, as Phil had put it, quite an important individual in his way; but how we could benefit by giving him Emu Bill's name and compliments was more than I could understand. The hotel seemed to be completely empty; even the bar was deserted, which showed an extraordinary state of matters. "If Mac and Stewart were here," laughed Phil, "there would be a repetition of the Indian village raid I have heard so much about." Which I fear was only too true. However, we determined to give fair warning of our presence in the establishment, and halloed out lustily; and at last a heavy footstep sounded in the room above. "Doyle!" I cried, "Sir Thomas Doyle!" "Lord Doyle!" added Phil, in a voice that might have awakened the seven sleepers. "Phwat the thunder'n' blazes is yez yellin' at!" roared the object of our inquiry, suddenly appearing on the stairway. Then he noticed the vacant bar. "Thunder'n' turf!" he muttered helplessly, "has all the shop cleared out after that d—— d nugget?"
- 27. "Looks like it, Tom," I suggested. "Have you been asleep?" "Av coorse. It's me afternoon siesta I was having. I'll be in time for the rush all right, an' don't you forget it." "We didn't come to warn you about that," I said. "Emu Bill of the Five Mile said you had a few good horses——" Ready for the Rush. "Emoo Bill!" he howled. "Same man," I admitted; "do you know him?"
- 28. "Does I know Emoo Bill? Well, I should smile. Why, me an' him were with Hannan when that old skunk went back on us at the discovery ov Kalgoorlie. Howly Moses! Poor owld Emoo! Horses, boys? Surely. I'm goin' to use 'Prince' myself, but yez can have the two steeplechasers, 'Satan' an' 'Reprieve.' I'll do that much for the Emoo; an' d—— n the others who expect the horses." Events had certainly developed much more rapidly than I had anticipated; neither Phil nor myself had entertained the idea of joining in the rush. I had mentioned Emu Bill's message idly, never dreaming it would produce such a prompt effect. Tom Doyle was a noted sporting man in the district, a second Harry Lorrequer in a small way, and provided he was not drunk, he could break in even the most unruly horse when all others had failed. The noise on the street was now becoming terrific; small armies of miners bearing picks and stakes were arriving from the local diggings, and buggies and horses were being hurriedly equipped. "We'll have a dhrop av the crater first," said Tom, noting the disturbance outside, "and then we'll saddle up." Shortly afterwards we emerged from the hotel courtyard mounted on horses that were the pride of the countryside. Tom rode "Prince," a powerful-limbed, coal-black cob of sixteen hands; Phil bestrode "Satan," a fiery Australian brumby; and I clung to "Reprieve," an impetuous high-stepping bay. "Keep at my heels, boys," cried Tom, as he started off at a canter, and it was at once evident that if we could keep at his heels we should be in at the death without a doubt. It was slightly after three o'clock, and when we reached the scene of excitement we found the street absolutely blocked. There must have been several thousand men packed like sardines right across the broad passage, and on the outskirts of this vast crowd over a hundred cyclists stood ready; beyond them still, a line of horsemen were drawn up, in numbers exceeding a regimental squadron.
- 29. Scores of buggies and other spidery racing contrivances were scattered near at hand, and extended far down the side street leading towards the post-office. It was indeed an extraordinary sight. We formed up with the other horsemen, Tom's approach being hailed with loud cheers, for every one knew the dare-devil Irishman. "You'll get a broken neck this time, Tom," cried one of his acquaintances cheerfully. "I didn't know Prince was broken in to the saddle yet, Tom," said another. "No more he isn't," replied Tom, "but he's broken enough for me. Stand clear, bhoys." And then the black charger reared and bucked and curvetted wildly, while its rider kicked his feet out of the stirrups and kept his seat like a Centaur. Few of the horses present had been much used before, and they now became restive also, and pranced dangerously. Phil and I had a bad five minutes. We did not know the nature or temper of our mounts; and besides, neither of us cared to place much reliance on our stirrup leathers, they looked frayed and wofully fragile. "If they go with yez, bhoys," advised Tom, "give 'em their heads. They'll get tired soon enough. Thar's lots o' room in this country." "Oh, Lord!" groaned Phil, "what a comfortable prospect we have before us! My back is about broken with this kicking brute already." The vast assembly was now becoming impatient. The stated time, 3.30, had been reached, and as yet there was no sign of the Reverend Father who had been the cause of the extraordinary meeting. Then just as threats and curses were being muttered, a pale-faced young man in clerical garb made his appearance on the balcony, and a deathlike stillness reigned in an instant. In a few words the priest explained his strange position, but he was rudely interrupted many times.
- 30. "It's gettin' late. Where did the nugget come from?" the rougher spirits roared. The young man hesitated for a moment. "The nugget was found on the Lake Gwinne track," he said, "at a depth of three feet——" With a long, indescribable roar the multitude scattered, and the speaker's concluding words were drowned in the din. "Hold on!" cried Tom, as Phil and I swung round to follow the main rush, "the d —— d idiots didn't wait to hear how far it was from Lake Gwinne." There was scarcely a dozen of us left; the breaking-up had been as the melting of summer snows. "And the position is two miles from the lake," repeated the young man, wearily. Then Tom gave his horse a free rein and we followed suit. Lake Gwinne was a salt-crusted depression in the sand surface, about five miles distant from the township, and in a very little frequented vicinity. The so-called track towards it was nothing more than a winding camel pad through the bush, and had the miners stopped to think, they would have at once realised how insufficient was the data given. With our additional information we were slightly better off; nevertheless I was not at all inclined to grow enthusiastic over our chances. The district mentioned had been very thoroughly prospected many months before, and with little success. "I think Father Long has been hoaxed after all," I said to Phil, as we crashed through scrub and over ironstone gullies in the wake of the main body, which we were rapidly overtaking. But he could not reply; his horse was clearing the brush in great bounds, and as it had the bit between its teeth, my companion evidently had his work cut out for him. A few yards ahead Tom's great charger kept up a swinging gallop, and every now and then that jolly roysterer would turn in the saddle and encourage us by cheery shouts. We soon passed the men who were hurrying on foot, but the buggies and the cycles were still in front. The sand soil throughout was so tightly packed that it formed
- 31. an ideal cycle path, but the sparse eucalypti dotting its surface were dangerous obstacles, and made careful steering a necessity. The goldfield cyclist, however, is a reckless individual, and rarely counts the cost of his adventurousness. Soon we came near to the cyclist army; the spokes of their wheels scintillated in the sunlight as they scudded over the open patches. But one by one they dropped out, the twisted wheels showing how they had tried conclusions with flinty boulders, or collided with one or other of the numberless mallee stumps protruding above the ground. On one occasion Tom gave a warning shout, and I saw his horse take a flying leap over a struggling cyclist who had got mixed up in the parts of his machine. I had just time to swerve my steed to avoid a calamity, and then we crashed on again at a mad gallop, evading the bicycles as best we could, and sometimes clearing those which had come to grief at a bound. It was in truth a wild and desperate race. When the last of the cyclists had been left behind, and the swaying, dust-enshrouded buggies and one or two solitary horsemen were still in front, Tom turned again. "Let her go now, bhoys," he said, "there's a clear field ahead. Whoop la! Tally ho!" For the remainder of that gallop I had little time to view my surroundings; I dug my heels into "Reprieve's" flanks, and he stretched out his long neck and shot forward like an arrow from the bow. Buggies and miscellaneous vehicles were overtaken and left in the rear. Various horsemen would sometimes range alongside for a trial of speed, but "Reprieve" outdistanced them all. "It's Doyle's 'Reprieve,'" one of the disgusted riders cried; "an' there's 'Satan,' an', fire an' brimstone! here's Doyle hissel'." Tom's weight was beginning to tell on his noble animal, which had given the lead to my horse who carried the lightest load; but with scarcely a dozen lengths between us we thundered past the foremost racing buggy, and were quickly dashing down towards Lake
- 32. Gwinne, whose sands now shimmered in the near distance. We were first in the rush after all. Suddenly we came upon a recently-excavated shaft with a dismantled windlass lying near, and with one accord we drew up and dismounted. "If this is where the Sacred Nugget came out of, it looks d—— d bad that no one is about," growled Tom, throwing the reins of his horse over a mulga sapling and looking around doubtfully. It was clearly the vicinity indicated by Father Long, and we lost no time in marking off our lots in the direction we considered most promising. We had barely taken these preliminary precautions when horsemen and buggies began to arrive in mixed order, and in a short time the ground all the way down to the lake was swarming with excited gold-seekers. "I'm blest if I like the look o' things at all, at all," mused Tom, and I was inclined to take a similar view of matters, for a more barren- looking stretch of country would have been hard to find. Then, again, by examining the strata exposed in the abandoned shaft we could form a fair estimate of the nature of the supposed gold- bearing formation; and after Phil and I had made a minute survey of all indications shown, we came to the conclusion that our ground, acquired after such a hard ride, was practically worthless and not likely to repay even the labour of sinking in it. The hundreds of others who had pegged out beyond us were not so quickly convinced, and they announced their intention of sinking to bedrock if they "busted" in the attempt. About an hour after our arrival at the Sacred Nugget Patch, Phil and I started back for the Five-Mile Flat, satisfied to have taken part in so strange a rush, yet quite certain that the Sacred Nugget had been unearthed in some other district, or that the entire concern had been a stupendous hoax. Tom Doyle decided to camp on the so-called "Patch" all night, without any special reason for doing so beyond holding the ground in case some fool might want to buy it for flotation purposes, as had been done often before with useless properties.
- 33. When we reached home that evening we were tired indeed, and in spite of ourselves we felt rather disappointed at the unsuccessful issue of the much-advertised stampede. "Ye've had a gran' time," said Mac regretfully, when Phil told of how he and "Satan" came in first after a most desperate race. "I'm glad I didn't go with you," said Bill. "I hope I can resist temptation in the way o' rushes until I is ready to sail back homeward." "It would certainly be better," I allowed, "than to give up a proved property for a miserable sham." As it happened, the famous rush had indeed proved but a worthless demonstration. Not a grain of gold was discovered near the Sacred Patch; and after much labour had been expended there, the disgusted miners abandoned their shafts in a body.
- 34. A Breakdown in the Rush. The mystery connected with the alleged nugget was never explained. Every bank in the Colony denied having seen it, and its supposed finders did not again appear on the fields. Father Long must have been cruelly victimised, of that there was no doubt, for no one could for a moment believe that he had perjured himself. He was justly known as a thoroughly honourable man and a conscientious teacher. Even the most suspicious mind could not accuse him in any way. And he, the unfortunate dupe of a pair of unscrupulous rogues, did not long survive the severe shock given to an already feeble system. He died some months later, and with him went the secret, if any, of the Great Sacred Nugget.
- 35. INTO THE "NEVER NEVER" LAND A few weeks after the Sacred Nugget rush had taken place we lowered our flag at the Five-Mile Flat, having come to an end of the auriferous workings within our boundaries. I had meanwhile succeeded in purchasing from an Afghan trader two powerful camels and five horses, with the intention of using them on our projected inland expedition. The horses, I feared, would prove of little service, but for the early part of the journey they might relieve the camels somewhat by carrying the various tinned foodstuffs necessary for a long sojourn in the desert. These "various" stores vary but little notwithstanding their distinguishing labels, and the bushman's vocabulary, always expressive, contains for them a general title, namely, "tinned dog." Tinned dog and flour are, indeed, the sum total of the Australian explorer's needs. The traveller in the great "Never Never" land is not an epicure by any means, and should he be burdened by over- æsthetic tastes they quickly vanish when "snake sausage" or "bardie pie" has appeared on his menu for some days! Phil had decided to accompany us, and as he had shared our fortunes since our entry into the country, I was by no means loath to accept of his services, knowing him to be a highly trustworthy comrade, and an invaluable addition to our little party he proved. It was hard to say goodbye to our old associates of the camp fire; I knew they would not remain much longer at the same diggings, which were showing signs of playing out in almost every claim, and it was not likely we should ever meet again. Old Tom was much affected; he had been our near neighbour so long, and under the happiest circumstances of his wandering life, so he said, and now we were going back into the "Never Never"
- 36. country, and would never see him more. I was not quite certain whether Old Tom meant that we should most probably leave our bones in the central deserts, or whether his words were due to an extreme sentimentalism on his part, but I preferred to believe the latter. "We'll call and see you at Adelaide some of these times, Tom," I said, while Stewart and Mac were bidding him an affectionate farewell, but he only shook his head mournfully, and would not be comforted. As for Emu Bill, he had considerable faith in our enterprise, and would, I believe, have come with us had I said the word. He was, however, a true specimen of the independent bushman, and unwilling to demonstrate his wishes. "Durn it all, boys," said he with vigour, "I is not an old man yet, an' tho' I knows you aire a big enuff party without me to get through the mallee country, I guess I'll coast it round to Derby in time to jine you in a Leopolds trip." "I thought you were going home after this rise, Bill," I said quizzically, not surprised to find his early resolutions wavering. "I'll mebbe see you 'cross the Leopolds first," he replied gravely. "I calc'late I knows that bit o' kintry better'n any white man." "Goodbye, boys," roared Nuggety Dick and his satellites, waving their shovels from their distant claims, and the echoes were taken up from end to end of the lead, for where I was wholly unknown Mac and Stewart had endeared themselves by devices peculiar to that crafty pair. It was pleasant to receive such a genial send-off, and though I am not as a rule affected by farewell greetings, yet on this occasion I felt strangely moved. The camels and horses stood ready, laden with the great water-bags and unwieldy mining machinery, and Phil was stroking the mane of one of the horses in listless fashion. "It's a fairly long trip for you to start on, Phil," I said, noting the far- away expression on his usually bright face.
- 37. "I was thinking of other things," he answered quietly. "Gee up, Misery!" cried Mac, cracking his long whip. "Gee up, Slavery!" echoed Stewart. And we started out, heading N.N.E., bound for the land where the pelican builds its nest. For the first few miles we crossed the gridiron-like tracks connecting the numerous camps and settlements lying out from the main township of Kalgoorlie; but soon these signs of civilisation vanished, and in the early afternoon our course lay over a wildering scrubland, with iron-shot sand-patches here and there among the stunted shrubs. The camels, which we had named "Slavery" and "Misery," led the trail. They were, indeed, wiry animals, and as I paced beside them, noting their almost ludicrously leisurely tread, I could not help remarking on the vast amount of latent power indicated in every movement of their rubber-like bodies. "Slavery" was a patient and gentle animal, and marched along meekly under his load of full seven hundred pounds, but "Misery" soon displayed a somewhat fiery temper, and before our first day's journey was completed we were compelled to adopt stern measures with the recalcitrant brute. The horses formed a sad-looking line behind the sturdier beasts of burden, and they would cheerfully have forced along at a speedier rate than the progress of the camels allowed. Among them were two high-spirited animals, which we named "Sir John" and "Reprieve," while the three others we dubbed simply "Sin," "Sand," and "Sorrow." We camped that evening just twelve miles from our starting-point, and yet it seemed as if we were already beyond the reach of civilisation. Not a trace of a white man's presence was visible anywhere, and for the first night we missed the crashing rattle of the ever-working batteries. A deathlike stillness filled the air, broken only by the startled scream of the carrion crow or the weird double note of the mopoke. "There's any amount of room for prospecting here," hazarded Phil, gazing around, after the horses and camels had been safely
- 38. picketed. Which was true; yet who could have the heart to sink a proving shaft amid such inhospitable surroundings? "If we locate an outcrop, boys," I said, "we may trace it up, but otherwise we can only test the surface sands with the dryblower." It was but vaguely known what kind of country lay far to eastward of us. Many thousands of square miles had never been crossed by any traveller, and strange rumours were often circulated among the miners of the various outposts regarding the extraordinary riches of the vast "Never Never" land. It was even predicted that a great inland river flowed northwards towards the Gulf of Carpentaria; how far it flowed before sinking in the arid sands was a matter for conjecture, but it was confidently supposed to drain fertile valleys, and to be flanked by noble mountain ranges rich in gold and precious gems. It was a rosy enough picture, surely, but one which, unfortunately, no explorer had yet succeeded in bearing out. "It's a gran' thing," said Mac thoughtfully, when supper was over, and we were reclining on our blankets gazing at the stars, and listening to the tinkling of the camel bells. "It's a vera gran' thing," he repeated, "tae be alane aince mair, an' wi' the bonnie stars shinin' brichtly abune——" "Here's a centipede!" roared Stewart, interrupting his comrade's moralising. "Then pit it in yer pocket, ma man," was the calm reply; and he resumed where he had left off: "Ay, it's a gran' thing, Phil, tae ken that ye're traivellin' in new country, breathin' the bonnie pure air. Noo if ye had been wi' me an' Stewart oot in Alaskie——" "Spin me a yarn, Mac," said Phil, drawing his blanket closer, while Stewart started up in sheer amazement. Mac was visibly affected; he took his pipe from his mouth and gazed at the camp fire blankly for some time without speaking. "Ye're a guid an' thochtfu' man, Phil," he said at length with great earnestness, "an' A'll gie ye a rale bonnie story...."
- 39. I will pass but briefly over the early days of our march. Our track at first led through the Murchison district, for I wished to make a mid- northerly latitude before steering east; but after leaving the Gascoyne Channel the country traversed was of the most dreary nature, and similar to that around the more desolate southern gold camps. Several soaks were found opportunely when the water-bags were becoming dangerously flat, and our progress continued uneventfully for over a week, but then the formation of the land- surface began to change rapidly for the worse. The dwarfed eucalypti became sparser and sparser, and in their room appeared bushy clumps of saltbush and tufts of spiky spinifex grass. The hard ironsand soil, too, gave place to a white yielding gravel which hindered our advance greatly. The camels, certainly, were not seriously inconvenienced, but the staggering horses sank over the fetlocks at each step, and stumbled forward painfully, while we floundered alongside, almost blinded by the rising iron dust which filled our ears and nostrils.
- 40. Our Last View of the Five-Mile Working. For two days we crossed this disheartening waste, fearing greatly for the safety of the horses, which showed signs of collapse. No water had been located for three days before entering upon this miserable tract, and assuredly none promised on its parched expanse. The horses—poor animals!—fared rather ill in consequence, for we dared not give them much of our rapidly-diminishing fluid supply. On the morning of the third day, however, our course led across slightly- improved country, so that better progress was made, and our chances of finding water were decidedly more encouraging. At noon we entered a belt of scrub, and soon were crashing through a miniature forest of stunted mallee; but this state of affairs was not
- 41. destined to last, for we could see in the distance, at a slightly higher altitude, the open plain extending back into the horizon. At this point Phil considered the indications very favourable for water, and we decided to make a temporary camp, and search the district thoroughly before proceeding. We were preparing to unload the camels, when Stewart, who had gone a little way ahead, came rushing back in great excitement. "Niggers!" he hoarsely whispered. Looking up I saw quite an assembly of stalwart bucks directly in our course, and scarcely two hundred yards in front. Some bushes partially hid them from our view, and they had evidently not yet observed us. They were well equipped with spears and waddies; probably they were out on a hunting expedition, and, if so, it boded well for the resources of the district. While we hesitated, debating on our best plan of action, they saw us, and gave vent to a series of shrill yells, yet were apparently undecided whether to resent our presence or escape while they might. Then a shower of spears whizzed through the air, but fell short, and buried their heads in the sand at our feet. We were just out of range of these missiles, luckily enough. My companions were not disposed to tolerate such tactics, and Mac discharged his gun, loaded with small shot, at the hostile band. They waited no longer, but made a wild rush into the densest part of the scrub, and were quickly lost to sight. Then we proceeded onwards warily, whilst far in the distance the branches crackled and broke before the fleeing horde. The scene of their stand was littered with fragments of brushwood, and the dying embers of a fire smouldered in the centre of a small clearing close by. All around, shields, spears, and boomerangs lay scattered as they had been thrown when their owners took to flight. The sight was curiously strange and impressive. My usually loquacious companions had been wonderfully silent during the last day or so, owing, perhaps, to the uninspiring nature of our environment, but now Mac succeeded in launching into a lengthy diatribe, in which he consigned the blacks generally to a very warm climate indeed.
- 42. "At the same time," said he, "we shidna forget that such inceedents serve a vera usefu' purpose." "They seemed rale dacent black buddies," reflectively murmured Stewart. "And they entertained the laudable desire of puncturing us with 'rale dacent' spears," Phil added shortly. The camels stood patiently within the clearing, with their long necks outstretched, and their heads moving up and down with the regularity of automatons; the horses straggled behind, gasping feebly. "We'd better make a halt right here, boys," I said; "the horses seem played out completely." So while Mac and Stewart were engaged in the work of unloading them, Phil and I made a minute survey of our surroundings. A huge breakwind guarded the circular space, and behind it a well-padded track led backwards into a richly-foliaged dell. Creeping plants and luxurious ferns grew in profession around the base of a single lime-tree which found root in the hollow, and a long wiry kind of grass flourished abundantly under its genial shade. "I'll investigate the cause of such unusual vegetation," Phil said, stepping forward. "Look out for snakes," I warned; then turned to assist Mac in raising poor "Sorrow," who had rolled over on the ground, pack-saddle and all. "The puir beastie's feenished," Mac said sorrowfully, "an' nae wunner." "Here's anither ane," wailed Stewart, and I looked up to see him wildly endeavouring to keep "Sin" from falling on the top of sundry cooking utensils. It was plain that two at least of the horses could go no further if fortune did not speedily favour us. "This is the deevil's ain countrie," groaned Mac helplessly, and for the moment I felt utterly disheartened as I watched the poor animals convulsively gasping on the sand.
- 43. A shout from Phil drew my attention. "There's a spring here, boys," he cried gleefully from the lime-tree hollow. It was a welcome discovery; I had almost despaired of finding water in the vicinity. "We'll camp for the day," I said, "and give our pack train a much-needed rest." The spring was a small one and beautifully clear; its waters gurgled gently through a fissure in a white kaolin formation, and the surplus flow was absorbed by the spreading roots of the climbing growths mentioned. It was half hidden by an outjutting boulder, and further cunningly screened from view by a heavy clump of overhanging grass. Evidently the blacks were in the habit of camping here frequently; the breakwind might have been erected for one night's shelter, but the track towards the well had been long in use. "I hope our landlords do not visit us to-night," Phil remarked, as we gazed at each other through the smoke of our camp fire some little time later. "It wud be a vera onfort'nate happenin'," Mac grunted placidly, drawing his gun closer. "They're mebbe cannibals," suggested Stewart uneasily. "We'll keep a watch in case of accident," I said; "but I don't expect they'll give us any trouble." But Stewart was still uneasy. "Their spears ha' an ex-tra-or'-nar' bluid-thirsty look," he grumbled again, examining the double-barbed weapons he had collected, "an' I hae nae faith whitever in they black-skinned heathen." However, the night passed without alarm, though we kept a careful watch and were ready for an attack should any have been attempted. We continued our march next morning, and in less than half an hour had emerged into open country, but now the surface soil was of a hard, gravelly nature, liberally strewn with the iron pebbles so abundant in more southerly latitudes. Straggling growths of mallee
- 44. and mulga spread everywhere, and at their roots reptiles and numberless nameless pests seemed to abide. Black snakes writhed across our path, centipedes squirmed over our boots, iguanas in myriads started before our approach, and flying creatures with hard, scaly wings rose from the shadeless branches and dashed into our faces. Flies in dense clouds assailed us, causing indescribable torture, and the diminutive sand insect was also extremely active, seeking into our socks and ragged clothing despite our most stringent precautions. For over a week we journeyed across this dreary wilderness, nor did we once observe a break in the horizon's even curve; the weather, meanwhile, being of sweltering description. Then a dim haze towards the north-east gradually outlined into a well-defined mountain range as we advanced, and the country in general took on a more irregular appearance. We were now nearing the line of the explorer Wells's northward march, and I altered our course slightly in order to intersect it at a point where a good water supply was charted, for four days had elapsed since we had last discovered any trace of moisture. All that day we forced onwards wearily, the sun beating down upon us mercilessly the while. No more desolate tract could be imagined than that which lies in these latitudes: the motionless mallee and mulga shrubs, the glistening beady surface over which we dragged our feet, the quivering heat haze that so distorted our vision, and the solemn stillness—the awful stillness of a tomb—all tended to overwhelm the mind. A broken range of sandstone hills loomed clearly out of the haze early in the afternoon, directly in our track, and I again shifted the course so as to round their southern extremity. Towards the south the sand wastes extended far as the eye could reach, but east and north many mouldering peaks now interrupted our view. We found the spring without difficulty; it contained about forty gallons of muddy water, over which a thick green scum had gathered, and it was simply moving with animal life. Many bones of
- 45. doubtful origin lay heaped near to it; some were probably the remains of kangaroos killed by the natives, of whom there were numerous signs in the neighbourhood, but Phil insisted that not a few human bones were among the bleaching mass. At the bottom of the spring the complete vertebræ of several snakes and similar reptiles almost wholly covered the chalky, impervious base, but how these came to be there was a matter beyond my comprehension. "Most probably," said Phil, "the natives like a snaky flavour in the water." "It mak's it extra paleetable tae them, nae doot," groaned Mac with a shudder, "but I hae nae parshiality fur crawly bastes, even when they're deid." Stewart had by this time acquired a philosophical turn of mind. "What's the guid o' growlin', Mac?" he snorted. "There's mebbe waur than that tae come yet." That we were in a district favoured by the blacks was very certain, although we had not yet observed any of the dusky savages; three or four breakwinds sheltered a space close to the spring, and the ground was black with burnt-out smokes and charred logs. The water, notwithstanding its pronounced medicinal flavour, was a great improvement on the fetid solutions of the various soaks we had encountered, and we decided to camp by it for several days, so as to test the auriferous resources of the surface sands, which looked rather promising, and also to give us time to make some much- needed repairs in our tattered wardrobe. The results of our experiments with the supposed auriferous country proved too insignificant for more than a passing mention here. A few colours were obtained, but nothing to give confidence to even the most unambitious goldseeker. Rather disconsolately we prepared to resume our march in a more N.E. direction, and three days later we started on our altered course. The eternal sameness of things in the Australian interior makes daily records of progress unentertaining reading, and though each day's travel comes back to my mind now
- 46. as I write with painful vividness, yet it but cries out in the same strain as its predecessor and follower, "Sand, sand, everlasting sand." For many miserable days and weeks we struggled eastward, sometimes deviating to the north or south in vain endeavour to escape unusually deterrent belts of the frightful wastes now so familiar to us all. Sometimes we would locate a soak or claypan when least expecting such a find, and again, we might be reduced to almost certain disaster before the water-bags were replenished at some providential mudhole in our course. I do not wish to enlarge upon the miseries of our journeyings; we took these willingly on ourselves at the start, hoping for a compensating reward in the shape of valuable knowledge; and is not experience always priceless? Knowledge we did gain, it is true, but not of the kind we had over- fondly anticipated; still, we had not yet reached the planned limit of our expedition, and who knew what might await us in the dim, shadowy mountain that stretched its cumbering height far on the eastern horizon? We had sighted this landmark nearly a week before, but having been more than usually zealous in our search for the precious metal among the outcropping iron formations now frequently encountered, our rate of travel had been reduced to a few miles each day. Two of the horses were still left us; the last of the ill-fated three had succumbed from sheer exhaustion nearly fifty miles back, but "Sir John" and "Reprieve," though no longer the high-spirited animals they once were, still carried their jolting burdens of tinned meats, flour, and extracts, though their steps were daily becoming weaker, and their bright eyes clouding in a manner that foretold the worst. The camels stubbornly paced ahead, with the great water-bags tantalisingly lapping their tough hides, and the miscellaneous mining implements perched on their hollow backs; they had already served us well and nobly, and I devoutly hoped their vast energies would bear them over the worst that lay before us.
- 49. EL DORADO! We were now close on the 125th degree of longitude, which I had marked as the limit of our eastward course, and my faith in more northerly latitudes was so little, indeed, that I dreaded making any change in our direction of travel. "If we don't strike gold within the next couple of days," said Phil, "there isn't much likelihood of our being overburdened with wealth at the end of the trip." Mac, who was pulling the nose rope of the leading camel, at once lifted up his voice in protest. "For Heaven's sake be mair pleasant wi' yer remarks, Phil," he cried. "I was calculatin' on goin' home like a young millionaire——" "You'll need to calculate again, then, Mac," interrupted Phil, "for I don't think we'll get a red cent out of the ground on this journey." But the complainer was not yet satisfied. "What's the guid o' bein' a golologist?" he demanded wrathfully. "I thocht——" What he thought remained unspoken, for at that moment we heard a scramble behind, and looking round we saw the doughty Mac and his compatriot Stewart engaged in fierce conflict. "I saw it first, ye red-heided baboon," roared the former, with remarkable fluency of expression. "The fact o' seeing it is naething—naething at a'," returned the other with great complacency, "It's sufficient to say that I hae got it." The camels, feeling the strain of guidance relaxed, had come to a halt, and were now seemingly taking an interest in the squabble. It was a rare thing for them to be left to their own devices, even for a
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