inconvenience until she could communicate with the English consul.
That gentleman did all in his power to aid his countrywoman, and,
although he ran the risk of losing the money, he cashed her draft upon
her bankers in Madrid. We left town before she did; and I think she
never after set up her privilege of rank to take possession of places
that did not belong to her. I have always felt obliged to her for
driving me into the old diligence, rousing my indignation, and leading
me to be prodigal of my money in securing the highest speed, and thus
escaping robbery.”
LIII.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND.
COLONIAL EXHIBITS AT THE PHILADELPHIA CENTENNIAL—WONDERFUL MINERAL
WEALTH OF THE ANTIPODES—CURIOUS FEATURES OF THE GOLD FIELDS—HOW
A PARTY OF CALIFORNIANS WERE DECEIVED—DISCOVERIES OF GOLD AND
HOW THEY WERE MADE—TROUBLES WITH THE MINERS—AN INSURRECTION AND
ITS RESULT—FIELD OF THE AUSTRALIAN MINES—COAL, IRON, AND OTHER
MINERALS—THE RESOURCES OF NEW ZEALAND—ITS GOLD YIELD—GEOLOGICAL
PECULIARITIES—AGRICULTURAL AND OTHER WEALTH—VICISSITUDES OF MINING
LIFE—PLANS FOR ENCOURAGING IMMIGRATION.
At the International Exhibition held at Philadelphia in 1876, the
Australian colonies attracted much attention by reason of their
exhibits. All the products of the continent were displayed, and there
was an interesting array which embraced a wide variety. Vegetable
products were those from grains and grasses up to sections of trees
and specimens of limbs and bark; and a fine exhibit of minerals
was displayed. In the center of the space occupied by each of the
colonies, there was something of great interest to the gold hunter;
it was a monumental record of the gold taken out from the time of the
discovery of the precious metal in Australia, down to the year of the
Exhibition. In one case, it was a tall obelisk covered with gold leaf;
its cubic contents were equal to that of the gold taken out of the
earth in the colony, that presented it. Another of the colonies had
a similar monument, but gave it the shape of an oblong block, and a
third put it in the form of a gilded pillar. One of the colonies had
plaster casts of the most famous nuggets it had produced; they were
gilded so as to present a wonderfully deceptive appearance, and as
they lay in their cases, they attracted large crowds, including many
persons, who supposed they were gazing upon the genuine lumps of the
precious metal.
[Sidenote: RESOURCES OF AUSTRALIA.]
Down to the date of the discovery of gold, Australia was almost a
_terra incognita_, and the chief knowledge which the outer world
possessed of it was as a place of exile for English convicts. It was
known to have excellent qualities as a grazing country, and attracted
emigration among those who wished to follow farming and sheep and
cattle raising. It had long been known to possess iron and other
minerals, but none of them were supposed to be of great value. Indeed,
a geological survey of Victoria and New South Wales, less than fifty
years ago, was fruitless in its results, and the engineers who were
engaged upon it reported that the country must rely for its wealth
upon its agricultural facilities alone.
It would be useless to attempt a classification of the districts in
which gold has been found, as new deposits are opened up every year,
and no man can determine with precision the limit of the auriferous
territory. The deposits are unlike those of most other countries,
so much so, that old miners of California who go to Australia, find
that their previously acquired knowledge is of comparatively little
use. Quartz and pipe-clay are generally associated with gold in the
Australian diggings; the quartz is found in all sizes and shapes, from
minute pebbles worn and smooth by many centuries of attrition, up to
huge masses weighing many tons, and cropping out from the surface in
fantastic forms.
Gold is also found intermixed with sandstone, iron-stone, and white
and blue clay. In fact, it is found in many conditions, unknown in
California and elsewhere, and this state of things has given rise to
some curious incidents.
During the first years of the golden age in Australia, many miners
went thither from California. They looked at the ground with practical
and critical eyes, and some of them declared that the whole story
of rich deposits in places where they were said to exist, must be
wholly false, as gold “could not” be found there, according to their
knowledge of mining matters. A party of them went one day on a
prospecting tour up a small valley, and returned in disgust. No gold
was or could be there.
[Sidenote: A JOKE AND WHAT CAME OF IT.]
While they were at supper in their tent, three or four freshly arrived
gold hunters came up and innocently inquired their way to a good place
to dig. As a joke, the Californians told them that they had that day
visited a valley which was very rich, and would make a handsome return
to anybody who worked it.
Bright and early next morning, the strangers, who were novices in gold
digging, were on their way to the new mines. They found nobody there,
somewhat to their surprise, and hesitated for fear they were in the
wrong place. One of the Californians followed them stealthily, and
finally saw them begin work. Then he returned to his companions, and
all had a good laugh over the “sell” upon the new comers.
The latter worked diligently, and in almost complete ignorance of
mining rules. The first two days they found nothing, but on the third
day, they struck a rich lead and were happy.
The Californians had forgotten the sell upon the strangers, when, a
couple of weeks after the perpetration of the joke, one of the latter
came around and asked why they were not at work in the place which
they said was so rich. The Californians laughed, and one of them said:
“You hain’t been working there all this time, have you?”
“Of course we have,” was the reply.
“Well, now, give it up,” said California, “the joke’s gone far enough.”
“Joke, what joke?” the stranger asked.
“Why, we sent you up there just for a joke, because you were
greenhorns. There ain’t no gold there, nor never was.”
“Well, if that’s so, the joke is on you,” was the reply, and the miner
told of the good luck of his party.
The Californians devoted a few minutes to unincumbered profanity, and
then went and staked out claims near those of the strangers. Thus
they indirectly made something out of their practical joke. Thus was
discovered one of the richest fields in the Bathurst district.
Profitable diggings are scattered all over the country, but are
chiefly in New South Wales and Victoria. The gold was at first found
in small lumps in the surface earth, but this was soon exhausted.
Then deep excavations were made, and though the deposits were not
so numerous, the lumps were found to be larger. At Ballarat, near
Geelong, where the most valuable lumps were found, the shafts were
sunk sometimes to a depth of more than a hundred feet. Masses of pure
gold weighing many pounds were brought to light—one of them weighed no
less than one hundred and thirty six pounds, and was valued at more
than thirty thousand dollars.
Previous to the gold discovery, copper ore of great richness was found
in South Australia, not far from Adelaide. Other deposits of copper
have been found, and there are many fine veins of tin, lead, and
silver. In fact, the mineral wealth of Australia is by no means fully
known, and the opportunities for making fortunes are very far from
exhaustion.
[Sidenote: VAST BEDS OF COAL.]
Coal exists in many localities, especially on the eastern coast, where
it is found associated with beds of sandstone. The seams are large and
of great extent; the coal is of good quality and easily mined; it has
proved to be a source of great wealth to those engaged in putting it
upon the market. By facilitating steam communication, it has done much
toward the development of the colonies, especially that of Victoria.
The history of the gold discovery in Australia is no less romantic
than the account of the finding of the treasure deposits in California.
The first discoverer of gold in Australia is believed to have been
the Rev. W. B. Clarke, of Sydney, who, in 1841, found gold in the
mountainous regions to the west of the Vale of Clwyd, in New South
Wales; in 1844, he exhibited a specimen of gold in quartz to the
then Governor, Sir George Gipps, and others. But the subject was not
followed up, “as much from considerations of the penal character
of the colony, as from general ignorance of the value of such an
indication.” Mr. E. H. Hargreaves returned to Sydney from California
in 1850, for the express purpose, as he states, of searching for gold;
and on the 12th of February, 1851, he succeeded in finding gold at
Summer Hill Creek, in New South Wales. This discovery afterwards
led to gold being found in other places in that colony, and to the
discovery of the gold-fields of Victoria.
[Sidenote: SEPARATION OF VICTORIA FROM NEW SOUTH WALES.]
Previous to this time, however, the colony of Victoria was a
dependency of New South Wales, and a strong feeling had gained ground
that it suffered in consequence. Complaints were made that the
expenditure of Government moneys in the district was not equal to the
amount of revenue yielded by the taxes levied and lands sold within
its borders. The distance from the capital was also found to operate
injuriously to the interests of the colonists, and a cry was raised
for separation. The demand was, as a matter of course, resisted by
New South Wales, but as the agitation was carried on with increased
activity, it was at last yielded to by the Home authorities. The
vessel bearing the intelligence arrived on the 11th of November 1850.
The news soon spread, and great was the satisfaction of the colonists.
Rejoicings were kept up in Melbourne for five consecutive days, on
three of which not even a newspaper was published, and on the night
of one the city was illuminated. Before, however, the separation
could be legally accomplished, it was necessary that an act should
be passed in New South Wales, to settle details in connection with
the establishment of a Legislature in the new colony, and that sundry
other observances should be gone through. The requisite forms were at
length given effect to: on the 1st of July 1851, a day which has ever
since been scrupulously observed as a public holiday, it was publicly
announced that the Port Philip district of New South Wales had been
made a separate colony, to be called Victoria, after the name of the
Queen of England.
In little more than a month after the establishment of Victoria as an
independent colony, it became generally known that rich deposits of
gold existed within its borders. Two years and a half previously a
lump of gold had been exhibited in the shop of a jeweler at Melbourne,
named Brentani, which it was said had been found in the locality of
the Pyrenees Ranges by a shepherd named Chapman. This created some
little excitement at the time, but as the man could never point out
the place where he had found the specimen, and indeed soon deserted
a small searching party he had undertaken to guide to the spot, it
was readily supposed he was an impostor, and had obtained the gold by
melting some articles of jewelry he had stolen, and so the belief in
the existence of a goldfield gradually grew weaker. The discovery of
gold, however, in New South Wales, by Hargreaves, in February 1851,
caused numbers to emigrate to that colony. This being considered
detrimental to the interests of Victoria, a public meeting was held in
Melbourne on the 9th of June, at which a “gold-discovery committee”
was appointed, which was authorized to offer rewards to any that
should discover gold in remunerative quantities within the colony.
The following is a short statement of the order in which the Select
Committee appointed by the Legislative Council to consider claims for
rewards for gold discoveries in Victoria, placed the various claimants
in their report dated 10th of March 1854:
[Sidenote: HISTORY OF THE GOLD DISCOVERY.]
The Hon. W. Campbell discovered gold in March 1850, at Clunes;
concealed the fact at the time from the apprehension that its
announcement might prove injurious to the squatter on whose run the
discovery was made, but mentioned it in a letter to a friend on the
10th of June, and afterwards on the 5th of July 1851, which friend,
at Mr. Campbell’s request, reported the matter to the gold-discovery
committee on the 8th of July. Mr. L. J. Michel, and six others,
discovered gold in the Yarra Ranges, at Anderson’s Creek, which they
communicated to the gold-discovery committee on the 5th of July. Mr.
James Esmond, a California digger, and three others, obtained gold in
the quartz rocks of the Pyrenees, and made the discovery public on the
5th of July. Dr. George Bruhn, a German physician, found indications
of gold in quartz “two miles from Parker’s station,” in April 1851,
and forwarded specimens to the gold committee on the 30th of June.
Mr. Thomas Hiscock found gold at Buninyong on the 8th of August, and
communicated the fact to the editor of the _Geelong Advertiser_ on the
10th of the same month. This discovery led to that of the Ballarat
gold-fields. Mr. C. T. Peters, a hut-keeper at Barker’s Creek, and
three others, found gold at Specimen Gully on the 20th of July;
worked secretly to the 1st of September, then published the account.
This led to the discovery of the numerous gold-fields about Mount
Alexander, and afterwards to those of Bendigo.
The deposits were found to be richer and to extend over a wider area
than any which had been discovered in New South Wales. Their fame soon
spread to the adjacent colonies, and thousands hastened to the spot,
desirous of participating in the newly found treasures. When the news
reached home, crowds of emigrants from the United Kingdom hurried to
these shores. Inhabitants of other European countries quickly joined
in the rush. Americans from the Atlantic States were not long in
following. Stalwart Californians left their own gold-yielding rocks
and placers, to try their fortunes at the southern Eldorado. Last of
all, swarms of Chinese arrived, eager to unite in the general scramble
for wealth.
[Sidenote: TROUBLES ABOUT MINING LICENSES.]
The payment for a license to dig for gold was first fixed at £1 10s.
per month, and this was afterwards reduced to £1 10s. per quarter. The
license fee was not seriously objected to in the early days of the
gold-fields, when gold was found in large quantities by almost all
who sought it, but in the course of a year or two, the number of gold
diggers had increased so enormously that many were unsuccessful, and
the license fee even in its reduced state became a heavy burden. The
mode of collecting the tax by means of armed troopers, who surrounded
parties of miners at work, and arrested all without licenses, was very
obnoxious, and led to resistance.
Towards the end of the first year of the gold discovery, the
Government determined to raise the license fee to £3 per month, and
actually issued a proclamation, dated 1st December 1851, stating that
on and after the 1st of January 1852 such amount would be charged.
This was met by strong protests on the part of the diggers, which
resulted in the proclamation being rescinded on the 13th of December
1851. No licenses therefore were ever issued at the increased rate.
Public meetings were held on some of the gold-fields to protest
against this state of things, but as little notice was taken of them
by the government, the discontent continued. It finally culminated
in an outbreak at Ballarat, near the end of 1854, when the diggers
erected a stockade known as the Eureka, and defied the authorities.
All the troops that could be mustered were sent to Ballarat and on the
2d of December, the stockade was taken by storm. The riot was quelled
with some bloodshed on both sides, and a government commission was
appointed to investigate the matter. None of the prisoners were ever
convicted, and the result of the affair was that the oppressive tax
upon the miners was removed.
[Sidenote: INCREASE OF POPULATION.]
The effect of the gold discovery upon the population of Australia may
be seen by a few figures from the returns of the last census in 1871.
On the 2d of April of that year, the number of inhabitants in Victoria
was 731,528. Ten years previously it was 540,322. The increase during
this interval was therefore 191,206, or 35.39 per cent. In 1851, which
was the year of the discovery of gold, the population amounted to
77,345. The increase in the twenty years between that period and 1871
was therefore 654,183, or at the rate of 846 per cent.
Like all gold mining countries, Australia has attracted a great many
adventurers in search of wealth. Nearly every country on the earth
was represented in the emigration, and many of the representatives
were not calculated to reflect credit upon the lands of their birth.
Probably the accumulation of all kinds of races and nationalities in
California was fully equaled by that in Australia, and particularly
at Melbourne. At one time murders were so common in that city that a
correspondent writing from thence, said it was the “bourne whence no
traveler returns.”
It is a remarkable fact that, both in 1873 and 1874, more persons
born in the United States, in proportion to their numbers in the
population, were arrested in the colony of Victoria, than those of
any other nationality. The chief causes of arrest were, as in the
case of citizens of most other countries, drunkenness and disorderly
conduct; still, there were a not inconsiderable number of arrests
for more serious offenses, and the proportion committed for trial
was much greater than that of persons born in any other country.
The number of Americans settled in Victoria is but small, and it
is not impossible that it is to a certain extent made up of those
who, in consequence of their misdeeds, found it desirable to absent
themselves from the country of their birth, and that they conduct
themselves no better there than they did at home. In the year under
review, next to Americans, the Irish, in proportion to their numbers,
contributed the largest number to the arrested; and next to them, the
French. In 1873, more of the last-mentioned fell into the hands of
the police than those of any other country, except the United States.
In 1874, Frenchmen were next to Americans in the numbers committed
for trial. The remark applied to the latter, with reference to the
probable reason for their leaving their own country, will perhaps also
be applicable to them. Although the proportion of Irish committed
for trial was greater than that of either English, Welsh, Scotch,
or Victorians, it was less than that of persons of any of the other
nationalities.
[Sidenote: TOTAL GOLD YIELD OF AUSTRALIA.]
The whole quantity of gold taken out in Victoria alone, from the
discovery down to the year previous to the exhibition at Philadelphia,
was nearly forty-four and a half million ounces, representing a value
of not far from nine hundred millions of dollars. Truly, Australia has
been of no ordinary importance as a land of gold. Probably her total
mineral wealth of every kind thus far taken from the earth and turned
to practical use, would not fall short of two thousand millions of
dollars!
As in California and elsewhere, the early form of working and surface
diggings has given place to quartz mining. Of the yield, set forth in
the most recent statistics, it is estimated that sixty per cent. of
the gold came from quartz reefs, and forty per cent. from alluvial
workings. In the previous year, it was estimated that fifty-seven per
cent. was obtained from quartz reefs, and forty-three per cent. from
alluvial workings.
According to estimates made by the mining surveyors and registrars,
the number of quartz reefs proved to be auriferous is 3,398. The
Secretary for Mines points out that these cannot in every case be
distinct reefs, as parts of the same reef, in some localities, are
held to be distinct ones, and named accordingly; and, moreover, as
the reefs are further explored, it is frequently found that what were
supposed to be separate reefs are in reality not distinct.
From information obtained by the same officers respecting the amount
of gold obtained from a considerable proportion of the quartz crushed,
the average yield per ton is estimated to have been 11 dwts. 10.55
grs. in 1873, and 11 dwts. 20.51 grs. in 1874.
Gold-mining in Australia, instead of being, as formerly, practiced
by the individual miner, is now almost entirely in the hands of
companies. In a single year, the dividends paid by these companies
exceeded ten millions of dollars.
Following are some of the most famous Australian nuggets whose
fac-similes were exhibited at Philadelphia:
[Sidenote: FAMOUS NUGGETS.]
The “Beauty” Nnugget weighed 242 ozs. It was discovered at a depth
of nine feet from the surface, in Kangaroo Gully, Bendigo, in the
year 1858. The gold was 22.2-7/8 carats fine.
The “Platypus” nugget weighed 377 ozs. 6 dwts. It was found in
Robinson Crusoe Gully, Bendigo, in a pillar of earth of a deserted
claim. The claim was situated in shallow alluvium, and the nugget
was discovered in March, 1861. The gold was 22.1-1/8 carats fine.
The “Viscount Canterbury” nugget was found in John’s Paddock,
Berlin Diggings, at a depth of fifteen feet from the surface, on
the 31st of May, 1870. It weighed 1,105 ozs. The gold was 23.3
carats fine.
The “Schlemn” nugget was found at Dunolly on the 11th of July,
1872, at a depth of three feet beneath the surface. It weighed 538
ozs., and is estimated to contain 60 ozs. of quartz.
Nugget [not named] found in Broomfield’s Gully, Creswick, on the
8th of August, 1872. It weighed 24 ozs. 3 dwts., and was got at a
depth of one hundred feet below the surface.
The “Kum Tow” nugget weighed 718 ozs. 5 dwts. It was found on the
17th of April, 1871, in Catto’s Paddock, Berlin Diggings, at a
depth of twelve feet six inches below the surface. It was found by
a party of Chinamen. The gold was 23.3 carats fine.
The “Viscountess Canterbury” nugget was found on the 3d of
October, 1870, at Berlin. It was discovered at six feet six
inches beneath the surface, and weighed 884 ozs. 10 dwts. The
gold was 23.2-5/8 carats fine.
Many other nuggets were shown. The last on the list was the “Welcome,”
found on the 11th of June 1858, at one hundred and eighty feet below
the surface, at Bakery Hill, Ballarat. It weighed 2,195 ounces!
It was long doubted, by able geologists, whether there were any rock
formations in Australia that would yield diamonds; and even after
discoveries of them had been made, doubts continued to be expressed
about the truthfulness of the reports. For several years past the
original discoveries have received confirmation by the undoubted
subsequent unearthing of this interesting gem. They occur along
with tin-sand and titaniferous ore, close by, if not actually in,
decomposed granite; that is to say in rubbish, of which feldspar,
mica, quartz, and iron form no inconsiderable proportion.
Lying below the present granitic rocks, and stretching for several
miles, sometimes near the surface, and seldom two hundred feet below
it, is a gravelly formation, consisting of the materials usually found
in what, in Brazil, is called “Cascalho” and “Itacolumite” of the
coarser kind. This may be observed quite commonly on the spoil heaps
of the gold diggers. No diamonds have hitherto, however, been found
in precisely this formation; but their allies, the pale blue topaz,
many shades of corundum, both crystallized and amorphous, angular and
water-worn, yellow and white pebbles of crystalline quartz, frequently
of large size, zircons, &c., are quite common.
[Sidenote: DIAMONDS AND OTHER GEMS.]
The largest diamond yet found did not exceed four carats in weight,
but was a fine stone.