# The Chronicles of Early Melbourne/Volume 2/Chapter 57

​C H A P T E R LVII. THE AGE OF GOLD: ITS BIRTH, AND EARLY DEVELOPMENTS.
SYNOPSIS:—Early Prospectors and Prospecting.—Mirabilis Annus.—Gold in the Pyrenees. — The First Gold Buyer. — The First Gold Proclamation. — The First License Regulations. — The First Gold Exhibits. — The First Ballarat Licenses.— Further Regulations.— The First Government Escort.—Its Arrival — The First Melbourne Coach.—Ballarat in its Glory. — The Stampede from Melbourne.—A Journalistic Collapse.—A Busy Day. — The Straits of Trade. — The Doctors Procession to the Diggings. — The Mount Alexander Gold Field. — The First Melbourne Gold Circular.— Attempt to Start a Newspaper.—Finding of the Several Gold Fields.—Doubling the License Fee.—Doing the Doctor.— The State of Melbourne.
OLD, defined as "the purest and most ductile of all the metals," was in all ages deemed the Its possible discovery was the dream of the ancient voyagers, and the most valuable. whether they adventured north or south, east or west, hope waved a golden symbol before their eyes, and all their perils by sea or land were illumined by an ardent expectation that the attainment of untold golden treasures would constitute not the least of their rewards In California, which was ultimately instrumental in precipitating the unearthing of the auriferous riches of Australia, gold was found by some Spanish officers in 1539, and forty years later (1579), after Sir Francis Drake took possession of the country in the n a m e of Queen Elizabeth, in an account of his discovery, he declared "that there is no part of the earth here to be taken up wherein there is not some probable show of gold or silver." Two-hundred and seventy-two years later still, the first gold-seekers at Ballarat used the same words as to the abundance of the gold indications, but m u c h more unqualified as to quantity. T h e first Australian gold "discoverer" was an impostor amongst the first batch of convicts arriving at Sydney. With two or three brass buckles and a guinea, he manufactured some specimens of gold ore, which he announced as having been found by him amongst the pebbles in a creek a few miles away, and on the strength of such good luck, endeavoured to obtain clothes and provisions from the Government store, as the reward of his enterprise. T h e allegation was investigated, the deceit detected, and the fellow was flogged for his fraud. A few years afterwards the same m a n was hanged for a graver offence. In 1837, a convict assigned servant, employed as a shepherd at Bathurst, declared that he had found some gold specimens in the bush ; but, as he was unable to produce them, and had no corroborative testimony, it was assumed he was not a truth-teller, and a twenty-five lash castigation was the reward of his temerity. T h e likelihood of the Australian continent containing extensive gold deposits was k n o w n more than thirty years before they became a grand reality—Count Strelecki, w h o spent some time in Port Phillip, and m a d e himself quite at h o m e amongst all its mountain-ranges, its valleys, rivers and water-courses, prepared a very valuable Report upon the geology of the then most remote portions of the country. This document was presented to the House of C o m m o n s in March, 1841, and the following extracts possess a special interest as bearing on the subject of this chapter:— " T h e country between the Murray and Lake O m e o " (he wrote) " shows on an extensive scale the primitive and secondary rocks; a gillite and quartz rock on one side, to the east; old red-sandstone, with conglomerates, on the other, to the west.
" Indications of simple minerals and ores appear, indicative of such being buried beneath, hardly however, worth the trouble of seeking for." AAA ​With reference to Gippsland, the Report proceeded— " Economical mineralogists m a y derive from the examination of the rocks of the dividing ranges, traces of ores hidden by still unexplored chains from the eye of the traveller." Further on there is this intimation : — " A n auriferous sulphuret of iron, yielding a small quantity of gold, sufficient to attest its presence, but insufficient to repay its extraction, as existing generally throughout N e w South Wales." This Report was concurred in by Sir Roderick Murchison, the eminent geologist, w h o referred to it in a lecture delivered before the Royal Institute of Great Britain. In 1847, Sir Roderick, in a letter to Sir C. L e m o n , printed in the Philosophical Magazine, expresses a belief " that auriferous alluvia would be found at the base of the Western flanks of the dividing ranges." It appears, from the evidence given by the Rev. W . B. Clarke, before a Select Committee of the Legislative Council of N e w South Wales, that as far back as 1841, he discovered gold in the mountainous country to the west of the Vale of Clwyd; that in 1843, he spoke to m a n y persons of the abundance of gold likely to be found in Australia; that in 1844, he exhibited a sample of gold in quartz to the then Governor, Sir George Gipps, to Mr. J. P. Robinson, then m e m b e r of the Legislative Council for Melbourne, to M r . Justice Therry, and to several other persons; but, that the subject was not followed up, " as m u c h from the considerations of the penal character of the colony, as from the general ignorance of the value of such an indication." It is difficult to assign with certainty, anything like a precise date to the period when the Melbournians had thefirstintimation of the probability of the existence of the precious metal in Port Phillip. In 1851, M r . Jackson, for years resident at St. Kilda, met in Hobart Town, William Buckley, the "Wild White Man," the runaway convict from the Collins' Convict Expedition of 1803, w h o consorted for over thirty years with the Aborigines, and it was asserted by Buckley that gold abounded in the Cape Otway Ranges, and he could point out where it was to be found; but little attention was paid to the statement, for at the time the air was darkened by rumours of the existence of gold in several places. In 1841, two persons, named Armstrong and Sharp, were reported to have discovered small quantities of gold, both at the Plenty Ranges and the Pyrenees, which they had forwarded for testing and sale to Launceston, and receiving no return, they were discouraged from further searchings. In 1842, it was communicated to Captain Lonsdale, the Sub-Treasurer, that an old fellow known as " G u m " was mysteriously engaged in supposed gold workings in a secluded nook of the Plenty Ranges. S o m e troopers were despatched to beat up his quarters, as gold-hunting without proper authorization was then an offence punishable both criminally and civilly. " G u m " was found at home, taking his ease, but no gold was found on him, though the hut contained an old pair of bellows and two dilapidated crucibles—strong circumstantial evidence in themselves, but of no account when uncorroborated by collateral testimony. " G u m " was rather surprised, but not m u c h disconcerted by the visit. H e quietly told the police he was an honest man, w h o earned a livelihood by doing odd jobs of fencing, and hunting for lyre birds and other saleable live stock to be procured in the adjacent forests. T h e recluse of the Plenty came to be known as " G u m , the Gold-hunter," though the manner in which he carried on his craft as a gold-worker could never be found out. His den was at the head of the river, primitive in construction and unique in design. A huge g u m tree came to grief from the combined effects of bush fires and tempests. A portion of the trunk remained standing, and the burnt part was scooped out by the aid of adze and axe, the space between it and some boughs was covered in with bark, and two apartments were formed, one to serve as kitchen and residence, the second as cubiculum, store-room, and laboratory. O n c e a quarter the solitary inhabitant, with a small wallet slung on his back, journeyed into Melbourne, got rid of his burden, and returned with a stock of supplies. H e had come to Port Phillip from V a n Diemen's Land, was a quiet, steady-going, taciturn individual, w h o minded his business (whatever it was), and spoke little with anyone. His wallet was supposed to be a golden one, and whoever was the recipient of his smelted wares, kept the secret well. ​O n e day in March, 1847, a shepherd entered the shop of M r . Forrester, a jeweller, in Collins Street, and exhibited some metal which he desired to have tested. It was a sample as big as an average apple, and the shepherd thought it was copper. H e said he had found it amongst the roots of a tree blown down by the wind at a place some sixty miles from Melbourne, where there was plenty more of it; but the precise whereabouts he declined to disclose. Forrester applied some tests, when the specimen proved to be a veritable golden apple, inasmuch as it contained sixty-five per cent, of pure gold. Forrester became its possessor, and the shepherd left, promising to soon return with a larger quantity, but for some never-discoverable reason did not keep his word. There happened to be in Melbourne at the time a well-known Captain Clinch, master of the "Flying Fish," a popular craft which traded between Melbourne and Hobart T o w n , with w h o m Forrester was on terms of intimacy, and he presented Clinch with a slice of the "golden apple," but to newspapers only did he appear to have imparted any intelligence of his transaction with the shepherd. U p o n Clinch returning to Hobart T o w n , he was more open-minded than the Melbourne jeweller, for he communicated the facts as I have detailed them to the Hobart Town Courier, and it was the receipt of that journal of the 19th May, 1847, which informed the Melbourne newspapers that gold was indigenous to Port Phillip, but the whole thing was treated as a hoax. N o further gold intelligence turned up for more than a year, when in July, 1848, another shepherd put in an appearance with a paper of what he declared to be gold dust, gathered as he protested under a tree only a few miles out of town, but the locality he would not name. O n examination the sample did contain a small proportion of gold. About the same time a shepherd boy called at the shop of Mr. Robe, a jeweller in Collins Street, and displayed some gold, which he alleged had been found by him at the Pyrenees, but it was a very poor specimen. In the course of this same year a shepherd employed on the Station of Dr. William Barker, at Mount Alexander, found in a gully some particles of what was most probably gold, though they were thought to be iron or copper. H e kept them for some days, when a m a n named Fryer (after w h o m the well known Fryer's Creek was subsequently named) in the course of a land-hunting excursion dropped into the finder's hut, and was shown the discovery. H e so joked the m a n about his supposed treasure that the shepherd rushed out in a rage, and flung his specimens away. In January, 1849, the startling intelligence of the golden wonders of California created an intense sensation in Melbourne, and there was a partial exodus to the El Dorado. Ships were laid on at once for San Francisco, industrious and well-to-do artizans broke up their homes, scattered their household goods, and hied away over the seas—many of them like people w h o m a k e a hasty marriage, repenting in leisure the speed with which they jumped from certainty to uncertainty, and in some cases something m u c h worse. T h e Melbourne journals remonstrated vainly against such imprudent expeditions, and one of them thus grandiloquently wound up a long and laboured stay-at-home exhortation :— " T h e golden fleece of our pastures, waving fields of golden grain, and the golden oil obtainable from our seas, are the true gold for us, bringing happiness and content to the producers ; while an interminable thirst for the precious metal, which can only be assuaged by the sacrifices of all pastoral and agricultural pursuits, must render the people wretched and debased, and the country a desert." It was during the same month of January that another shepherd boy, named T h o m a s Chapman, made his appearance at the shop of Mr. Charles Brentani, another Collins Street jeweller, and showed some samples of a metal, picked up by him in his wanderings through a ravine in the ranges of the Pyrenees, where he was employed shepherding. O n examination it occurred to Brentani that the metal was gold; but as two heads were better than one he consulted with a M r . Duchene, an assayist, and after due testing the specimens were pronounced to be unmistakably gold of the best quality. O n a further consideration it was resolved that Duchene and the lad should return to the Pyrenees, when the latter was to point out where he had found the metal. H e was to be liberally rewarded; Duchene and Brentani were then to take further steps to work the wealth believed to AAA 2 ​be within easy reach, and henceforth everything was to prosper in the most agreeable manner. F r o m this starting-point of our early gold questings the current of events runs through an uneven and occasionally unreliable channel. Reticence, exaggeration, and not unfrequently falsehood, as it suited the whims or personal interest of the individual concerned, stamped the intelligence presented to the public; and even this, such as it was, leaped out in fits and starts through the local newspapers, and at times took a private trip to Sydney, through the Press of which city it made its way circuitously back to Melbourne. Anything like a lucidly consecutive narrative cannot be given, and this precis will present the several details in the order of time in which they were submitted to the public, w h o simply read and wondered, believed and disbelieved, but were almost unanimous in a firm conviction that sooner or later " something would turn up." Duchene, and the lad Chapman, started for the Pyrenees, and returned after an absence of some days, when Duchene declared they had found auriferous indications in abundance, and extending over a large area of country. If he could be believed, he brought back with him about ^ 1 0 0 worth of ore. Brentani, Forrester, and Duchene formed a second expedition, and after proceeding some miles they had a disagreement on the Keilor Plains, which led to Duchene's secession and return to Melbourne on the 30th January. H e forthwith indulged in what is known as "drawing the long bow," and treated the newspapers to some dazzling revelations of his first trip, previously kept back. T h e gold he described as being in abundance, and of a quality superior to any he had ever before worked. T h e value of what he had seen was actually incalculable. There was one tract of country, five miles in extent, on every yard of which there were indications of gold. H e picked up one nugget, weighing 2 lb. 3 oz., which yielded 90 per cent, of the precious metal. It was a lump interspersed with a few quartz pebbles. O n 1st February, a bush-hand—said to be an adult shepherd, interviewed Mr. Robert Cadden, the Clerk of the District Police Court, and offered to m a k e affidavit that five weeks before in traversing the country he found some dust, and a few small specimens which he was sure were gold. These he was unable to produce or account for, and where he met with them he refused to say. H e was a m a n of simple appearance, but his dress and manner caused his statement to be discredited. Brentani returned on the 2nd February, tired with what had turned out " a wild-goose chase." H e penetrated to within seventeen miles of the Pyrenees, where nothing like what they were in quest of was to be found; and whilst the shepherd boy was undergoing a talking-to for misleading, he dashed into the bush and vanished. After waiting some time for his appearance, Melbourne was re-sought without him. T h e next day, worked upon by the many Pyreneean rumours flying about as numerous and disquieting as a swarm of mosquitoes, a well-equipped party of half-a-dozen amateurs started from town at an early hour, resolved to explore the whole Pyrenees or perish in the attempt. Unfortunately they overdid it in their desire to have things comfortable on the march, and with this intent were accompanied by a dray laden with supplies. T h e " supplies," however, included a six gallon measure of brandy, which was broached ere they were half-a-dozen miles away, and the result was that half of them returned heavily intoxicated to Melbourne, whilst the residue after a two days' further jollification were ashamed to come back, and resumed their journey on the 5th. A little further progress quickly knocked them up, and under the darkness of a hot-wind night, they sneaked back like tame mice after their companions. It soon oozed out that no one save the boy (Chapman) had any knowledge of the golden locality. H e was believed to be in the service of Messrs. Hall and M'Neil, two settlers, squatted near Burnbank, and to have found the gold near or at a place known as the Doctor's Creek. H e had disposed of 22 ozs. to Brentani, and 24 ozs. to Duchene. A s to the supposed findings of the latter they were put down as spiteful " b u n c o m b " to annoy Brentani and his friends. A s to the boy no one could glean any tidings of him S o m e were so uncharitable as to hint that he had met with foul play, and others that he had levanted from the province. was n o w r M , IvgreatestJnterest abroad in Melbourne, for nothing was talked about save Gold! Gold! Gold everywhere-m the family circle as at the street corner, in the Melbourne groggery as ​at the Melbourne Club. People were beginning to be affected by gold on the brain ; and to calm public excitement the Superintendent (Mr. Latrobe) ordered Sergeant Rennie to take six black A w a y they rode amidst a shower of good troopers with him and be off to explore the Pyrenees. wishes for their success. During their absence another Pyreneean shepherd arrived in town. About gold he had no knowledge whatever; but as to the " vamoosed b o y " he knew him well from the descriptions given; though all he knew of him was that he was called " T o m m y , " and was a Pentonville "exile." Search parties n o w grew numerous, in twos, and threes, and more; but wherever they went they were dogged by the mounted police. O n one occasion, towards the end of February, one of the parties fired some long grass to interrupt the police surveillance, and thereby caused an extensive bush conflagration. N o w and then a wayfarer would exhibit in Melbourne a piece of quartz with just the smell of gold adhering to it, but by some strange singularity nothing tangible could ever be ascertained as to where these gold-smelling relics were found. Sergeant Rennie and his black patrol returned as news-empty as they went, for they saw and found nothing of the substance so ardently longed for. For want of something to say they put in circulation absurd rumours about the parties w h o had professed to find gold being merely thieves who had stolen it in specie, then melted it, and taking it to the bush to avoid possible detection, brought it back to town, pretending to have found it. But gullible as the public mouth often is this canard was too big a bone to be swallowed. In March some curious disclosures found their way into print anent the runaway " T o m m y , " who was declared to have decamped to Sydney, where he was retained as a servant in an hotel. It was now averred upon his authority that his disappearance from Port Phillip had been caused by Duchene and Brentani having threatened him with a criminal prosecution if he could not succeed in finding for them the place were he picked up the gold. This so frightened him as to make him cut their acquaintance. A s to gold-finding, one day he came upon some samples, the appearance of which he m u c h liked, and had planted them for safe keeping. T h e next day he was shifted to another part of the run, but carried his hidden valuables with him, and had thence come to Melbourne without revisiting the first place, but he knew its whereabouts well. It was about 120 miles from Melbourne. O n reaching town he showed Brentani his find, and bartered 24 ozs., valued at ^ 6 0 , with him for five shirts, a coat, pair of braces, and ^ 2 0 . Duchene paid him £8 for about 14 ozs., and Brentani offered him ,£200 to point out the gold-bearing spot, but he refused. Such is the version of the Chapman-^«;«-Brentani golden episode, as collated in piecemeal from the Melbourne newspapers. T h e Press at the time laboured under infinite difficulty in obtaining full and explicit information from the parties mainly interested, and as I would not wittingly do an injustice to the memory of Mr. Brentani by the insertion of uncorrected possible inaccuracies, I append Mrs. Brentani's version of the interesting event, extracted from a letter written by her in the Argus controversy already referred to :— " M y husband, the late Charles Brentani, and I settled in Melbourne in the year 1845. H e carried on business as a jeweller in premises in Collins Street West, near Queen Street, and subsequently he removed to the premises n o w occupied by Messrs. Berghoff and Touzel, as tobacconists. In the month of May, 1849, a shepherd, then aged about twenty-two, entered our shop, and asked m e to buy a lump of yellow metal weighing between 12 ozs. and 13 ozs. I did not then know the value of the article, but handed it to a Mr. Garrow, one of our employes, w h o tested it, assisted by a Mr. Forrester, w h o was a working-jeweller in our employ. They told m e it was gold. M y husband was away at Geelong at the time on business, and I did not know the metal's worth, but pending his return I m a d e him a small advance, and m y husband afterwards paid him the balance. This shepherd was T h o m a s Chapman, a native of Whitechapel, London, and he told m e that he found the gold under the following circumstances : — H e was employed at the time on Messrs. Hall and M'Neil's station, Daisy Hill. O n e Sunday morning in the month of M a y , while at a creek watering his sheep, he saw the sun shining on the nugget which was sticking out of the bank of the creek, and he later on in the day returned and took it away with him and brought it to Melbourne. O n m y husband's ​return he questioned Chapman about the place where he found the gold, and he volunteered to show Mr. Brentani and some friends the place. A party was accordingly m a d e up, consisting of some five or six friends. About three days after they had started, T h o m a s Chapman, to m y surprise, returned alone, and gave as his reason that he was afraid of the foreigners, and had given them the slip. H e said he wished to go to Sydney, where he had friends, and he proceeded there by a steamer, the "Shamrock," I believe. A rumour got abroad that Chapman had been made away with, and met an untimely end. I never again heard of him until 1874. In that year, he having heard that m y daughter, Mrs. Sabelberg, was living at St. Kilda, called at m y son-in-law's house, and m y daughter sent for m e to see him. Although time and privation had left their traces, I remembered him at once, and to m a k e quite sure I asked him several questions relating to incidents of his early life, which he answered without hesitation. Although in Australia during its palmy days, fortune had not smiled upon him, as he was poor, feeble, and apparently in ill-health. I helped him in a small way, and he afterwards proceeded to a station owned by M r . Buckley, of the firm of Buckley and N u n n , where he obtained employment, and very shortly afterwards I heard of his death." In M a y it was reported that a fencer named Nial had discovered auriferous indications in Gippsland, and had secured a piece of gold as big as a man's hand. In November, some young men, hailing from the Pyrenees, were in Belfast, and exhibited some gold specimens, which, they said, had been found between some rocks on the banks of a creek. Nothing noticeable transpired for several months, until the April of 1850, when another Pyreneean shepherd looked in at Brentani's, and displayed a bag of dust containing a small admixture of gold. H e gathered it at the Pyrenees, about seventy miles from the scene of " T o m m y ' s " good luck. Except an occasionally groundless rumour about some fabulous gold-finding, the yellow fever which prevailed so intermittently during the previous year, died out, and all thought of nuggets, samples and specimens passed away. T o produce so m u c h calmness in this respect a counter-excitement much contributed, for 1850 was the Separation year, and during its latter half Port Phillip reeled like a half-drunken man, filled with a delirium about the good things that were to come, and the political millennium to spring from the erection of a district into a self-governing colony, ravings resulting in vain but harmless delusions, dreams as far from being realized to-day as they were then.
MIRABILIS ANNUS.
Except old Father Time, who is seized of everything in the future as well as the past, no one in the colony could have the faintest notion, when the old year was rung out, of the wonders contained in the w o m b of the new year, that was rung in. There were no Spiritualists in Melbourne to invoke inspiration from the world of shadows, though there were two or three professional fortune-tellers, w h o pretended unerring powers of divination. There were also some astute "weatherwake" politicians, w h o assumed a faculty to prognose everything likely to happen; but no one was to be found capable of the roughest approximate guess of the extraordinary physical and social revolution which was close at hand, the crisis of which would have c o m m e n c e d just as the next new year would make its appearance. 1851 opened on the colony with a midsummer of unusual drought, parching hot winds, and a water-famine, only comparatively harmless, in consequence of the scattered nature of the squatting homesteads, the limited number of flocks and herds, and the total absence of that since well known and deserving class of the community k n o w n as selectors. January was arid and hungry, and the croakers sang out that the worst had not yet come. February appeared like some supernatural power bent on the destruction of the settlement, resolved to waste the length and breadth of the territory with fire and sword, leaving it a boundless desert of dust and ashes. The 6th of February, the baleful historic "Black Thursday," clothed in fire and sheeted in burning forests whose w.ld, angry flames and smoke eclipsed the sun in several places, can never be forgotten. It fell upon the young colony as if likely to crush it; and the people were so awestruck that it required some time before the panic caused by the shock could be shaken off, and the ordinary avocations of ​every-day life resumed. But this was not for long, and people had soon some other evolvements from the laboratory of Nature to wonder at. Ere two weeks had passed the astounding intelligence was posted d o w n from Sydney that, on the 12th February, M r . E. H . Hargreaves, a returned Californian miner, had discovered what got to be k n o w n as the Bathurst Goldfield. This was a panic of a very different kind, and the astonishing news, supplemented upon the arrival of every sea-going and overland mail from Sydney, so bewildered the people as to render them for a while incapable of action, almost of thought. O f course it was in everybody's mind that everyone should be off to the " diggins," as the treasure-ground was termed. Trade slackened, business depressed, and there was a general stand-still. Tenants gave up their holdings without observing the etiquette of a week's notice, and many of themflitted,forgetful to pay the rent. T h e coasting trade from Melbourne to Sydney was an exception to the general rule of dullness, and dozens, scores, and hundreds winged their way northward, resolved to return when they had m a d e their fortunes. M a n y w h o had staked their all in Melbourne bravely held their ground, the sagacious and long-headed brought their heads together, and the only rational conclusion followed, viz., to use every effort to find out gold deposits in Victoria, which would in some degree, if not completely, counteract the attractive influences of N e w South Wales, and so keep the Victorians at home. There was an impression indelibly imprinted on the public mind, not only of the residents of Melbourne, but throughout the province, that hidden layers of golden store existed in several localities, if they could only be found; and to stimulate and prosecute researches towards this end, both hope and energy were directed. Small volunteer parties lost no time in instituting gold searches, and in a few months news of small findings dribbled into town. Early on a Sunday morning (1st June) a labouring m a n called upon M r . Howie, a watchmaker, in Elizabeth Street, and, producing a small bag, rolled upon the counter thirty pieces of yellowish composition, which he pronounced to be gold. They were tested, and found to contain gold of the poorest description. Several of the pieces weighed lA[, and others ^ oz.; and the man, leaving one of them with orders to have a ring manufactured, departed with a promise to return in a few days. Howie elicited in conversation with the stranger, that the latter, whilst engaged digging on the River Plenty, had accidentally turned up the treasure-trove. H e would not give any further particulars, remarking " that he must have enough himselffirst,before others got possession of his secret." O n this becoming known, hunting expeditions were hastily formed, and money was raised in various ways. In one instance, half-a-dozen carters clubbed and sold four of their drays to provide for the purchase of equipment, whilst the other two vehicles were laden with provisions and implements to be used in the future operations. O n the 4th June, a bushman called at the Waterman's Arms, in Little Collins Street South, a few yards from Elizabeth Street, and showed to the landlord (Mr. W . Clarke) some splinters of quartz with a metallic substance attached. Clarke had them immediately examined by what he believed to be a competent judge, w h o pronounced the yellow stuff to be gold. T h e finder said he had got them within four miles of Melbourne ; and Clarke, having wormed out the place, was off there without delay, only to have his trip for nothing. Rumours n o w came pouring into town that gold (as yet not even seen) abounded at the Pyrenees, the Goulburn, the Murray, and almost every other nameable place throughout the interior; and not only gold, but silver, copper, coal and other minerals. Brentani and Crate (another jeweller) declared that they had lately obtained some specimens found at the Pyrenees, and it was proclaimed as a certainty (but by w h o m could not be ascertained) that a rich vein of platina had been discovered at a place named (not inappropriately) M o u n t Disappointment. T h e public feeling was n o w worked up to a boiling-point of distraction ; and to increase the general state of unsettlement, an insane reaction suddenly set in, in the form of a m a d spirit of speculation, to check which the banks raised the rates of discount. Provisions grew scarce, and leaped to such a price as added to the general embarrassment. Alarmists predicted a coming famine, and to such an extent did this go, that on the 6th June a meeting of citizens was held to consider the propriety of starting a milling and baking company, so as to keep d o w n the price of bread. After some discussion, it eventuated in the nomination of a Committee " to devise the best means of immediate relief to the industrious but overburdened portion of the community." T h e movement ​went no further; but, the more effectually to allay the fermenting disquietude, a requisition was presented to the Mayor for the convening of a public meeting upon the subject. T h e gathering came off accordingly at the Mechanics' Institute, on the 9 th June, " to take into consideration th e propriety of offering a suitable reward to any person or persons w h o should be the means of making known the locality of a gold mine within 200 miles of Melbourne." T h e Mayor presided, and, after the conventional quantity of talking, the following resolutions were agreed to :— « L — T h a t this meeting is of opinion that gold in considerable quantities exists in close proximity to Melbourne, and that a subscription ought to be forthwith entered into, for affording a reward to any person or persons w h o shall disclose to a committee, to be appointed, a gold mine or deposit, capable of being profitably worked, within 200 miles of Melbourne. « 2 . — T h a t the Committee, hereafter appointed, be instructed to apply to the local Government to induce it to promise its influence in procuring a grant out of the Land Fund, to any person who may discover any gold mine capable of being profitably worked within this province. « 3.—That a Committee be appointed by this meeting for the purpose of receiving and disposing of the subscriptions; also for receiving all communications upon the subject, and instituting the necessary inquiries thereon; also for applying for the countenance and assistance of the local Government, and generally to carry out the immediate intention of the meeting. " 4.—That the following gentlemen be appointed a Committee for the above purpose :— The Mayor (Mr. W . Nicholson), Dr. A. F. Greeves, Messrs. Abel Thorpe, John O'Shanassy, Richard Heales, J. P. Fawkner, William Westgarth, Andrew Russell, J. A. Gumbinner, A. H . Hart, Thos. M'Combie, Peter Davis, Germain Nicholson, John H o o d , David Young, and Jno. Hodgson, with power to add to their number." A s u m of £$o was subscribed as the nucleus of a search fund. About this time Mr. Frank Stephen, the well-known Solicitor, as expert in his powers of conveyancing on legs as on parchment, m a d e one of a party of two to set out for the Plenty, with only a spade and small basket of provisions. In a few days they returned with ij^ oz. gold, found, as stated, about 45 miles from town. These specimens were submitted to Superintendent Latrobe, who requested Messrs. E. P. Sturt (the Superintendent of Police) and — White (a surveyor) to set forth on a tour of inquiry. In a few days there appeared in the town William Aberdeen, a hawker, w h o reported that he had on the 5 th of June camped in some ranges on the run of Dr. Ronald, at the Plenty, and next morning whilst walking along the banks of a creek he found two or three grains of a shining substance, which he took to be gold. H e then set to work in earnest, and by next morning had secured many particles, thirty of which were each nearly as big as a pea, and the remainder something smaller than grains of rice. All of them he obtained by the side of two creeks, and travelled four or five miles in so doing. H e had no pick or other instrument to help him. Whilst gold-hunting his dray was robbed of some ,£10 worth of stores; and he subsequently sold his treasure to a Mr. Johnstone for ^"17 18s. id. H e refused to specify more particularly the topography of the place where he met his good fortune. H e saw over 100 persons out gold-hunting about creeks and gullies. T h e soil in which he found the gold was of a reddish nature, and the country abounded in a flinty sort of stone, which, when broken, presented a yellowish hue. The place was about 30 miles from town. The enchantment lent by distance to the view did not satisfy the sensation-mongers who mischievously amused themselves by circulating false alarms of the most absurd character, by which the "enchantment" was brought momentarily into Melbourne only to turn to disenchantment and disappointment. Indications of gold, it was confidently reported, had been found at Emerald Hill and the Flagstaff, Studley Park, and Collingwood Flat, and as a consequence hundreds of " flats," men, women, and children, armed with spades, shovels, pitchforks, pokers, and even knives and forks, invaded the localities named, and dug and prodded out and hacked away until they were tired, returning h o m e atter their exciting work only to be laughed at. There was a pottery in operation at Richmond. T h e clay used there was brought from a distance in the country, and by some means ​or other it got wind that the raw material was auriferous. O n e evening an old w o m a n accidentally smashed a flower-pot recently bought at the manufactory, and on trying to glue it together she fancied she saw some signs of gold glittering in the cracks. O f course she could not retain such an important secret, and whispered it to her neighbours. O n opening shop next morning the pottery-man was surprised to see a crowd outside the door. All the satisfaction his curiosity could obtain was that everyone there was disposed to invest in pottery, but particularly inflower-pottery.Such an inexplicable demand induced him to raise his price, notwithstanding which his shop was rushed like a run on a bank, and his stock-in trade cleared out in no time. After all was over he was told the reason, and laughed heartily at the pack of fools, whilst he jingled the unusual takings so unexpectedly transferred to his pockets. The Sturt-<r«;«-White expedition returned after being at the Plenty, where they m a d e a thorough exploration, penetrating gullies, wading through creeks, and climbing ranges, even to the summit of Mount Disappointment. They had dug, picked, grubbed, and sifted amongst stones, earth and roots, washing the sand, and hammering away at every breakable solid they encountered, for two whole days, without so m u c h as finding a speck of gold or anything else that could be taken for auriferous; they seemed disposed to think that there was not a trace of gold there at all, and never had been. The country was even destitute of the auriferous indications said to be prevalent at Bathurst and California. They had traced the wheels of Mr. F. Stephen's vehicle, and they met with some hundred persons gold-seeking, not one of w h o m had found anything except plenty of mica. In consequence of the doubt thus cast by the official report upon the veracity of Stephen's previous statement, Mr. John Yewers, a confectioner, published a statutory declaration in effect that he had picked up by the side of a rivulet in the Plenty Ranges, opposite Kirk and Harlin's, a piece of gold and some quartz. A n interesting meeting of the Gold Committee was held on the 9th June, at the T o w n Clerk's office, with the Mayor as Chairman. Mr. Dent, from the Plenty, produced a specimen for examination, and after being handed round and scrutinized, some of the Committee doubted whether it was gold. It was decided to have it analysed. T h e Mayor, Messrs. John Hodgson and A. H . Hart, were appointed a deputation to interview the Superintendent, and ascertain from him what encouragement the Government would be prepared to give in promoting the c o m m o n object in view. It was also resolved to offer a reward of 200 guineas, independent of what the Government m a y do, for the finding of a workable gold mine or deposit within 200 miles of Melbourne, capable of being wrought to advantage. T h e Committee was strengthened by the addition to its number of Dr. Webb-Richmond and Messrs. H . J. Hart. T h e last-named was appointed Secretary, M r . J. Hood, Treasurer. Dr. Ronald and M r . Henry Frencham arrived from the Plenty on the 13th June, with several specimens of " native gold," which Frencham asserted had been found by him and Mr. Walsh (a jeweller) in the ranges near Bear station, some five-and-twenty miles from town. The specimens, in weight about 3 lbs., were streaked with quartz, and contained a few ounces of gold. Where they had been found there were large veins of the same (supposed) auriferous surface; and if Frencham could be believed, a valuable gold-field had been discovered. He formally demanded the 200 guineas reward, and delivered the specimens to the T o w n Clerk, by w h o m they were sealed up and kept for analysis. At 7 p.m. of the 14th the Gold Committee assembled at the T o w n Clerk's office to inspect the specimens. There were present the Mayor, Dr. Greeves, Messrs. J. O'Shanassy, R. Heales, D. Young, A. H . and H . J. Hart, W . K. Bull, P. Davis, J. Hood, John Crate, and J. A. Gumbinner. T h e samples of quartz and sandstone belonging to Frencham were produced, and the claimant was in attendance. H e described the circumstances under which the find was effected. H e felt sure that gold abounded to a large extent at the place, which was easy of access, and he was prepared to point it out. A n analysis had been previously made by Mr. Crate, w h o was a jeweller, and Mr. Hood, a practical chemist, but the experts were divided in opinion. Crate declared that he had gilded a copper coin by a quicksilver process from some of the gold, ​and such he was convinced was an infallible token that the deposits contained gold. Hood stated that he had submitted several of the specimens to analysis without finding the smallest Others of them m a y contain gold, but those he had indication of gold in their composition. tested did not. A particular specimen was handed round to be looked at, and an old Cornwall miner w h o had casually dropped in closely eyed it. H e was a returned digger from California, and his opinion was waited for with breathless attention. It at length slowly oozed out and was not very re-assuring, for he simply thought that the specimen might contain i per cent, of gold. Certain shiny particles were observable in this and in others ; and the upshot was the prevalence of m u c h doubt and distrust of the whole lot. M r . A. H . Hart suggested that all the specimens be pulverized, and then tested by all the means of analysis known. Dr. Greeves was convinced that a certain portion of gold was present in their formation, and should not feel satisfied to the contrary until they were subjected to an analysis with a solution of muriate of tin, this test being allowed to be the most delicate of any known, and would discover the smallest particles of gold if such were present. In this state of perplexity it was agreed to request Messrs. John W o o d (chemist), L. A . Bearteaux (dentist), W . S. Gibbons (analyst), and John Crate (jeweller), to undertake an examination of the specimens instanter, and report with the least delay, so as to determine the vexed question that evening. This Board of analysis accordingly retired with the specimens to Mr. Hood's laboratory. M r . Martin, said to be an experienced miner, next submitted gold samples alleged to have been found in the same place as Frencham's, and an individual, w h o did not give his name, placed on the table for inspection a specimen of gold ore from a Brazilian mine. In this the gold was plainly discernible, and apparently combined with sulphuret of iron. After an hour's absence the testing Sub-Committee returned, when Mr. Gibbons stated two of the specimens having different aspects had been subjected to nitro-muriatic acid, and also to the proto-chloride of tin, without the slightest particle of gold being perceptible. But to make assurance doubly sure, he proposed to submit the specimens to the analyzation of quicksilver. Mr. H o o d declared that nothing could be more decisive than the process adopted, the specimens having been subjected to one of the most delicate of tests, and if only one grain of gold were contained or even dissolved in a hogshead of the fluid, it could be traced. It was finally resolved that M r . Gibbons' proposal of submitting the substances to mercurial action, should be had recourse to, the result to be communicated through the Mayor to the several newspapers. O n the 19th June some sensation was caused by the receipt of a sample of gold from Mr. R e a Clarke, found at the King Parrot Creek, and the sender applied for the public reward. Mr. Frank Stephen returned on the same day from a second excursion to the Plenty, and brought an armful of specimens. T h e Mayor accordingly convened an emergency meeting of the Gold Committee for 7 p.m. in the T o w n Clerk's office, when there attended the Mayor, Messrs. A. H . and H . J. Hart, J. O'Shanassy, D. Young, R. Heales, T. M . Combie, J. Hood, Webb-Richmond, P. Davis, W . K. Bull, J. W . Bell, G. Nicholson, and J. A. Gumbinner. M r . Stephen exhibited three specimens, one being solid gold, which he stated had been smelted from some of the ore found by him. T h e Clarke specimens were also on view, and a Mr. Morrow, as the agent of thefinder,m a d e formal application for the reward. It was agreed to ask Mr. H o o d to analyse portions of each parcel of specimens. Mr. H o o d accordingly withdrew to do so, and returned in a quarter of an hour with news that Clarke's specimens were pure gold. Mr. Stephen's had been submitted to the test of muriate of tin, and nothing found but iron. H e believed it to be sulphuret of iron. A shout of laughter followed, and Mr. Stephen, w h o was present, looking around indignantly, exclaimed, " That he could not see anything to laugh at," an announcement which brought on an uproarious encore. Mr. Crate declared that the test applied was of the most delicate kind ; what Mr. Stephen had found was not gold, but an indication of the lode. Mr. Stephen disputed the accuracy of the analysis, and proposed that his specimens be put in a crucible and tried there, whereupon Messrs. A. H . Hart, Hood, Crate, Gibbons, and Webb-Richmond were constituted a crucible inquisition, and they ret.red to take action. In three-fourths of an hour they re-entered the room, when H o o d reported that the Stephen specimens had been smelted and nothing found in them but sulphuret of iron. Stephen could hold out no further, and frankly declared that he was satisfied that ​the question had been thus set at rest. He could, however, assure the Committee that the piece of gold he held in his hand had been smelted from a lump of quartz found in the same place as the specimens just tested. M r . Morrow (Clarke's representative) was asked to favour the Committee with a fuller explanation than previously given. H e replied that he had received the gold from Clarke, with an intimation that it had been found at King Parrot Creek, twenty miles beyond Kilmore, where there was plenty more of it; that Clarke had been three days exploring, and might have obtained much more than he did had not the Creek been up. So soon as the Creek should go down he was to be on the hunt again. Clarke's searching had been stimulated by a letter from a brother in California, describing the localities in which gold was found there, between which and King Parrot Creek there was a resemblance. A resolution was passed to communicate with Mr. Clarke then resident at Kilmore, and ascertain if he would place himself in further communication with the Committee, and supply such fuller information as would entitle him to the reward. Several suggestions were offered as to the best mode of testing the reliability and extent of the King Parrot Creek deposits, and it was resolved to notify to the public the existence of such a probable goldfield, when such persons as m a y have a notion of leaving for Bathurst and others, would be likely in preference to try nearer home, and so personally test the workableness of King Parrot. Thanks were voted to Messrs. Stephen, Frencham, Walsh, and others, who had sought to find gold at the Plenty, and it was proposed to open a special subscription to reimburse any pecuniary outlay incurred in such endeavours. Messrs. Stephen and Frencham declined to accept any such repayment, whilst Stephen assured the Committee he had acted in thorough good faith. H e was positive of the existence of gold at the Plenty, and when the floods went down, he should try his luck again there. Mr. H o o d stated that a properly equipped party was preparing to set out in a few days to prospect the slope of the Pyrenees towards the Murray, and there was strong reason for believing in its success. It may be remarked that the Clarke specimens were of the purest description, quite solid, and not embedded in any other matter. They were picked up in the slate. O n the 27th June the following communication was received :— " Pyrenees, 24th June, 1851. " Dr. George W . Bruhn, geologist, has the honour to send for the inspection and analysis of the Committee of the Mining Company at Melbourne, two samples of quartz-rock, containing gold, and another grey ore which also seems to include some gold. T h e said quartz-rocks form large and extensive veins, the outside of which is richly covered by particles and small veins of the gold. " A s Dr. Bruhn makes his geological excursions quite alone on horseback, and, of course, is not able to carry with him the tools and implements for the digging, he could not yet examine the ' inside ' of the said quartz-rock veins, but according to the geological features of the same, he rather thinks that they m a y turn out a good gold mine. Dr. Bruhn has the intention to return to Melbourne in the course of 10 or 14 days, and he will feel very happy to communicate to the Committee his meaning about the above-mentioned gold. " H e has the honour to be the Committee's obedient servant. " T o the Committee of the Mining C o m p a n y of Melbourne."
The Committee held a meeting next evening, when Dr. Bruhn's enclosures were submitted. They consisted of two whitish quartz specimens in which gold was plainly visible. M r . H o o d tested one piece, and pronounced the unmistakable presence of gold therein. Dr. Webb-Richmond concurred, and added that if the specimen produced were a fair sample of the quartzose rock, and that it was easy of access, not being embedded in a harder rock, there could not be any doubt that the workings would be profitable ; but that these points must be ascertained, as if the auriferous rock were embedded in a harder material, the gold would be so difficult to be got at as to be hardly worth working, except by a company possessed of the necessary machinery. M r . A. H . Hart suggested that a deputation of the Committee should go to meet Dr. Bruhn. T h e Mayor was for letting those go that liked, and the rest stay at home. Mr. A. H . Hart was very anxious that some decisive steps should be taken in the matter, but, in accordance with the general opinion, it was determined to wait until Dr. Bruhn arrived in town, which, by the terms of his letter, would be in about ten days, and the Mayor promised to communicate with him on his arrival, to give notice to the Committee of the result, and, if need were, to call a meeting. M r . H o o d roughly estimated that a drachm of the richest specimen contained ​about 2½ grains of gold. This would yield a very large per centage to a company furnished with every requisite, such as stamping-mills, crushing-rollers, quicksilver-machine, & c , but it is not an attractive kind of mining to the generality of gold-seekers, w h o work generally singly or in small parties. T h e 5th July was a remarkable day in the quest for gold in Port Phillip, as it was the date of the appearance in Geelong of Mr. James Esmonds, w h o had some two months previously returned from California. In company with three others named Pugh, Kelly, and Burns, he went gold-hunting at the Pyrenees, and obtained gold in some quartz rocks near the station of Mr. Donald Cameron. H e n o w exhibited them (quartz and dust) at Geelong to a Mr. Patterson and the Geelong Advertiser, and the discovery was published by that journal on the 7th in the following announcement :—
GOLD IN THE PYRENEES.
" The long sought treasure is at length found! Victoria is a gold country, and from Geelong goes forth thefirstglad tidings of the discovery. * * * W e have been backward in publishing rumours of mineralogical discoveries, but w e are satisfied n o w with the indubitable testimony before us. W e announce that the existence of a goldfield in the Pyrenees is a great fact fraught with the greatest importance, and a preface to a glorious run of prosperity to Victoria." The precise locale was not given until the 22nd, when it was m a d e public with Esmonds' consent. It was afterwards known as the Clunes Diggings, and the precise spot where Esmonds made the discovery was on the banks of Creswick Creek, opposite where the Port Phillip Company's battery was working in 1884. O n the same 5th the existence of gold in quartz rocks at the Yarra Range (Anderson's Creek) was announced by Mr. Louis J. Michel, on behalf of himself and a party consisting of W . Habberlin, James Furnival, James Melville, J. Headon, and B. Greenig. They made their discovery on the last day of June, and the place was shown on the dayfirstnamed to Dr. Webb-Richmond, as the representative of the Gold Committee. O n the same 5 th Mr. William Campbell (the well-known ex-member of the Legislative Council) wrote from Strath Loddon to Mr. (now the hon.) James Graham, of Melbourne, authorizing an announcement that Mr. Campbell had discovered gold at the Pyrenees, but through a recent family bereavement, Mr. Graham overlooked the matter until the 8th July, when he communicated the fact to the Committee, which met on the 16th to deal with several applications for rewards. Mr. Graham's letter claimed priority over Dr. Bruhn, on behalf of Mr. Campbell, of the discovery of gold at a place known as the Deep Creek, laid down in Ham's map, as " between Mount Cole and Mount Alexander." A second letter was enclosed from Mr. Campbell on the subject, in which the writer remarked— "Could I have separated the merit of the discovery of the gold from the reward, I would never have claimed it; and as I do so only with the view of dividing it equally with those who assisted in the discovery, m y share I will appropriate to public charitable purposes. I have no pretensions to be a geologist, though I knew that gold was generally found in quartz; and observing a large dyke of quartz at the Cragoir ' Diggings,' I was induced to look for it there, after having expressed an opinion that it would be found there to many persons before I went to look for it. Although I consider it unnecessary to send m y samples, the reward being offered for the discovery of a mine that can be profitably worked, I send a few small samples enclosed, both of the gold and grey ore. There are a few m e n at work at Cragoir—the name I have given to the Pyrenees Diggings; they are washing the soil, procuring gold-dust in small quantities, and a very short time will test whether it will become profitable to work. T h e most satisfactory way would be for the Mining Committee to send a practical person to report progress." A communication, accompanying specimens, was aiso read from the Michel party; also some others of little or no importance. Dr. Bruhn was in attendance, and opening a small package handed in several pieces of quartz and marl, some of which were declared to contain gold, and others not. O n e or two appeared to be very rich, and Mr. H o o d estimated that a ton weight of such would realize ^1000.
sure they contained other metals besides gold. Where he had obtained them was ground of moderate elevation—a few hundred yards from Cameron's, on the Deep Creek. T h e spot bi-forked into distinct deposits, and the openings embedded in a kind of basaltic production, were evidently the result of some subterranean fire action. H e was of opinion that the rocks went down to a considerable depth. All his specimens were superficial, for none were obtained at any depth. O f the grey metal he had formed sanguine expectations; there was an immense quantity of it, and he believed it to be argentiferous as well as auriferous. Dr. Webb-Richmond, with Messrs. Hood, Walsh, and F. Baird, were deputed an Examining Committee, and retired to get through their work. In half an hour it was reported that in the grey specimens iron only could be detected; but the milk white ones contained gold in abundance. After some discussion it was decided, as the best m o d e of adjudging to w h o m the reward should be paid, to intimate to the public where gold was to be found, by w h o m the question would be soon practically determined. It would never do to act upon the opinion or report of two or three individuals. O n the motion of Mr. Hood, seconded by Mr. Walsh, it was agreed " that the Committee give notice to the public that gold had been found at the Deep Creek on the Yarra, and the Deep Creek at the Pyrenees." T h e following special announcement appeared accordingly in next morning's newspapers :—GOLD. The Committee appointed to promote the discovery of a Gold-field in the Colony of Victoria, have the satisfaction of announcing that unquestionable evidence has been adduced, showing the existence of gold in considerable quantity both at the Deep Creek, on the Yarra (near Major Newman's run), and also at the Deep Creek on the Pyrenees, near Mr. Donald Cameron's house. WILLIAM NICHOLSON, Melbourne, 16th July, 1851. Mayor, Chairman of the Committee.
After the lapse of a few days, a Mr. Pearson arrived in town, with the information of the existence of gold northward to Cameron's, on Deep Creek, and about 15 miles from Burnbank. It was to be found along the creek for more than half-a-mile, and consisted of fine dust, and particles not larger than the fourth of a pin's head. S o m e 300 or 400 persons had visited the place, but could not remain through want of provisions. T h e soil was very black, and the adjacent rocks were white flint. H e saw pieces picked up, weight y2 and 3/£ of an oz. T h e few stores in the neighbourhood were wretchedly supplied. A s the month progressed the gold news increased—in fact, the whole air was surcharged with accounts of some kind or other averaging five hundred fictions to one reality. O n the 22nd the Melbourne Morning Herald printed the annexed extract from a letter to Messrs. Charles Williams and Co., Melbourne, from M r . T h o m a s Clapperton, dated Burnbank, 19th July, 1851. The "Diggings" are going ahead again; the diggers are in great spirits, our old cook has gathered an ounce. When they are provided with proper implements they expect ten times the present produce per man. In spite of the extreme severity of the weather, there are daily arrivals. There are forty to-day on the ground. Warren, a shoemaker is so sanguine that he expects to realize two thousand pounds at Christmas ; and " will not put an awl in leather again " such are his expressions. Eaton is to commence cradling to-day under the directions of Esmonds, who arrived to-day. P.S.—Ten o'clock Sunday morning,—David Anderson has returned from the " Diggings," and says the cook has washed 2lA oz. in a week.
The next day was issued the following bulletin with reference to some of the exhibits of the recently-held Committee meeting:— Swanston Street, Melbourne, Dear Sir, 22nd July, 1851. I have carefully assayed the samples of gold you gave me, and find it virgin (that is 24 carat fine). It is thefinestI ever saw, and worth in London 83s. 6d. per oz. I am, Sir, Yours truly, Mr. H. J. Hart, H. W A L S H . Hon. Sec, Gold Committee, etc. ​O n the 25th July it was reported that gold-washing had c o m m e n c e d at Strath Loddon (as it was termed), 60 persons were hard at work there, and a Mr. Davis, from Avoca, arrived via Geelong in Melbourne, bringing some samples of gold-dust found on Donald Cameron's station, n o w known as " T h e Clunes Diggings." About 16s. worth of gold was got in a dish out of a gallon of earth, hand-washed in the roughest manner by pouring in water, stirring with the fingers, and then pouring out. As m u c h gold was lost as got. For four miles the country had been turned up at intervals, and every spadeful of earth showed indications and particles. Esmonds and his partner (Pugh) had got their cradles at work on the 24th. T h e place was within eight miles of the spot where the shepherd lad (Chapman) found the gold which created the sensation of 1849. During the last week of July Mr. Henry Frencham and Dr. Fleming had their attention called to a certain variety of rock in the eastern part of Bourke Street, near Spring Street. They went to the spot, and found some specimens, which Messrs. Crate and Lewis analysed. T h e veins in one were formed of oxide and sulphuret of iron; and from another a minute particle of gold was seen to project. M a n y deemed this a clumsy ruse, got up to secure notoriety; it caused the place to be thronged for a day, and was never more thought of. O n 26th July Michael and Habberlin revisited the scene of their previous success; and on the 4th August further discoveries were communicated to the Secretary of the Reward Committee. They were said to have, with only spade and tin dish, found amongst the alluvial deposits gold in minute particles, but tolerably abundant. T h e place was an agglomeration of quartz rock, and every spadeful of soil washed over the quartz by the rains and floods contained from 7 to 10 grains of gold. They did not go more than 24 inches below the service. S o m e of their samples had been tested by Dr. Greeves, whose certificate was forwarded. T h e place was 16 miles from town on the Yarra, near Major Newman's station. Consequent upon the information, official and otherwise, received by the Government, Mr. Latrobe, then a Lieutenant-Governor, with an Executive Council of his own, took measures to authenticate matters as they were really going on out of town ; and by his directions Captain Dana was again despatched as an observation emissary. H e proceeded accordingly to the Pyrenees, and on 3rd August a despatch was received from him stating amongst other facts " that there were about 60 m e n employed at the diggings, w h o on an average were making an ounce of gold per day." The implements used in washing were the ordinary tin pot and dish : and he thought gold abundant as at Bathurst would be obtained there when the primitive operating appurtenances were replaced by quicksilver and cradle apparatus. Early on the morning of the 6th, M r . N . A. Fenwick, Crown Land Commissioner, with Messrs. H . J. Hart, J. Hodgson, D. Young, J. Hood, — Reid, and H . Walsh, started from town for the Yarra, or Anderson's Creek diggings. After a 16-mile ride they arrived and began operations; but as they were not provided with proper implements, they could operate only with tin dishes. Every dishful of earth showed some particles of gold, in size about a pin's head. O n e dish yielded 10, another 6, some 4, and others less, of such encouraging atoms. T h e whole take was handed to Fenwick for the inspection of the Lieutenant-Governor. O n the 4th Mr. G. H . Wathen wrote from Mr. Callum's station, 5 miles west of the mines, to a Geelong paper, informing the public in effect that the Clunes diggings were on the Deep Creek, a tributary of the River Loddon, 500 yards from Cameron's—not at the Pyrenees, but 15 miles distant. T h e existence of gold there had been known for 18 months, Cameron declared that he had conducted Dr. Bruhn to the spot, and pointed out to him the gold imbedded in the quartz vein. There was no tract of auriferous alluvium; the gold was obtained from the quartz vein itself, and consequently it was more mining than digging. Drays and tents and covered carts commenced to arrive at Clunes, until the valley took the appearance of an encampment. Fires blazed around a wooded spur on the opposite side of the valley, advancing towards the creek, which twisted like a silver ribbon through a grassy flat, where the horses were for the time provided with pasturage. B y the 1st August a regular "diggings" was formed there, and a scene of busy animation set in. Cradles and tin dishes were plied by some, others used the pick and crowbar, whilst more, not the least useful, were providently seeing to the ​erection of huts, fixing tents, and doing anything that was possible in the commissariat line. A s n e w comers arrived they marked a claim or area whereon to "dig," and their first essay was to open the back of the vein rearward of the actual operation, and further from the banks of the creek, to which all the supposed auriferous soil had to be taken for washing. Four cradles were working away, and orders for a dozen more had been sent to Burnbank, little else than a nominal township, ten miles off. T h e average gain of the dishmen was 5s. per day. Esmonds' party was thefirstto commence work, and its leader estimated that a cradle in full operation with 4 m e n might obtain 2 ozs. in a day; but some thought this was too high. For thefirsttwo or three days the number of diggers was variously put down at from 50 to 60 at work, and two w o m e n were there. O n e of these ladies devised a profitable species of reefing for herself by setting up a laundry in a small enclosure of gum-trees, where she, arms deep in work, reaped a rich, though not literally a golden, harvest. T h e diggers mainly consisted of town artizans and station hands, who had abandoned their several handicrafts and the tending of sheep and cattle. Every hour n e w faces were showing themselves—some well-provided for the change of circumstances into which they had been plunged, and others diametrically the reverse. Captain D a n a and a contingent of his black troopers were up there, scattered through the immediate neighbourhood. In the course of some days Dana returned to Melbourne, and on his way back he passed numbers of people tramping on to the Clunes. Through him it was ascertained that the average earnings reckoned about 10s. per head; but provisions had grown very scarce, and many persons were badly off T h e " gold-field" then being worked did not extend beyond seven or eight acres in area. H e had found gold in three or four places in the neighbourhood. T w o robberies had been already perpetrated, but the people were, as a rule, peaceably and honestly disposed. H e had left fourteen troopers there to maintain order. A cloud of golden rumours showered into Melbourne from all other quarters of the colony, and if a tithe of the floating talk could be credited, one only had to walk a dozen miles out of town in any direction to find more gold than he could carry, and the only exertion the stooping to pick it up. Several specimens came to hand, the most unique being one in formation like a large button; but where it was found no person could positively make out. T h e digging excitement was increasing in intensity, and Melbourne seemed as if contemplating a general move out of town. Nothing was talked of save specimens, picks, cradles, dishes, and every other known m o d e of up-turning the surface or delving into the bowels of the earth. Several small groups started in company, and one party of four, provided with what they designated a quicksilver machine, was an object of enviable admiration as they trudged along the Flemington Road, accompanied by a considerable retinue, w h o saw them to the town boundary. T h e Michel party returned from Anderson's Creek with flaming reports about the fortunes to be secured there with no more trouble than the catching. About 80 persons were located there, where the auriferous area covered several miles. M r . Bell, a jeweller, who made a flying visit, took up afistfulof earth by chance, and found a gold pin head in it. What was termed Murcutt's party was very successful, one dish of earth yielding 50, and another 40 particles of virgin gold. Mr. T h o m a s Hiscock, w h o resided at Buninyong, induced by passing events, went gold-searching in his neighbourhood, and without either m u c h scientific or practical knowledge of the subject found a valuable auriferous deposit in a gully of the Buninyong Ranges, which thenceforth assumed his name. This happened on the 8th August, and some fine specimens in quartz matrix were forwarded to Patterson, the Geelong jeweller. This finding occurred on a Saturday, and the next Sabbath was broken by wild exclamations of surprise surcharged with expectation of what was to come next. Prayers, except for each individual's good luck, were sadly disregarded on that solemn Sunday. T h e people in the neighbourhood ran about as if they had lost their senses, and the public equilibrium was by no means restored by a m a n appearing in the evening with 3 ozs. of gold, which he had obtained by walking into the bush after dinner and amateuring a little with an old fryingpan for a washing dish. T h e relative distances between places were then rather loosely defined, and topography was in a state of m u c h inexactness, so that there was little else than rough guessing as to h o w far such a place was from another place. T h e n e wfieldwas ​declared to be about thirty miles from Clunes, where the gold found was honeycombed or spongy, whilst the Buninyong metal was solid, bright, and in some cases burnished. THE FIRST GOLD BUYER
Who advertised himself as such was Mr. John Hood, and on the 13th August he announced his readiness to purchase gold, or "would make cash advances on the same consigned to Messrs. Langton Bros, and Scott, London." H e had not the field long to himself, for the newspapers soon teemed with similar business notices. One day a child named Williams picked up a small gold specimen in Lonsdale street, opposite the present Wesley Church, and on this becoming known there was a rush to the Lonsdale diggings, which terminated as unprofitably as have many rushes since. N o second "find" occurred, and it came to be believed that the little nugget had been accidentally dropped or lost where found by some returned diggers, probably some one of those who were beginning to drop into the new colony from California. From what has been already stated it may be inferred that mineralogy as a science, theoretically and practically, was not widely diffused amongst the public, who stood in much need to be educated on the subject. T o remedy this want in some degree a series of lectures was delivered at the Mechanics' Institute by Dr. Bruhn and Dr. Webb-Richmond; whilst to aid in providing proper appliances for gold extraction Mr. J. A. Manton, a Civil Engineer, designed an improved pattern of cradle for deposit washing—guaranteed to produce three-fold the result of the ordinary cradle work, and a model was submitted for the inspection of the Lieutenant-Governor. O n the 15th August gold was found on the property of Mr. Joseph Hawdon, of Heidelberg. Hawdon had returned from Twofold Bay, where some gold indications were discovered; and whilst strolling along the bank of the Yarra, observing geological formations similar to those of Twofold Bay, he dished some of the earth, and obtained 3 grains, but a fourth never turned up. Bruhn paid a visit to Anderson's Creek, and on the same day as the Hawdon find left 150 persons working there. He entertained a strong opinion as to the auriferous quality of the Dandenong Ranges. Meanwhile encouraging accounts continued to arrive from the Clunes, to which place the Burnbank storekeepers had moved, and sold spades for 15s. each—cradles were now manufactured on the spot. THE FIRST GOLD PROCLAMATION.
In consequence of the information from Buninyong, the Executive broke silence in the following warning voice :— PROCLAMATION. By His Excellency Sir Charles Joseph Latrobe, Esquire, Lieutenant-Governor of the colony of Victoria and its Dependencies, etc., etc., etc. Whereas, by law, all mines of gold and all gold in its natural place of deposit within the colony of Victoria, whether on the lands of the Queen or of any of Her Majesty's subjects, belong to the Crown. A n d whereas information has been received by the Government that gold exists upon and in the soil of the colony, and that certain persons have commenced, or are about to commence, searching and digging for the same for their o w n use without leave or other authority from H e r Majesty. N o w I, Charles Joseph Latrobe, Esquire, the Lieutenant-Governor aforesaid, on behalf of H e r Majesty, do hereby publicly notify and declare that all persons w h o shall take from any lands within the said colony any gold, metal, or ore containing gold, or who within any of the waste lands which have not yet been alienated by the Crown shall dig for and disturb the soil in search for such gold, metal, or ore without having been duly authorized in that behalf by H e r Majesty's Colonial Government, will be prosecuted both criminally and civilly as the law allows. A n d I further notify and declare that such regulations as upon further information m a y be found expedient, will be speedily prepared and published, setting forth the terms on which licenses will be issued for this purpose on the payment of a reasonable fee. T , r f " v! Und6,r m l h a , n d , a ^ Seal . at t h e G o v e r n m e n t °ffi<*> Melbourne, thisfifteenthday of August, in the year of our Lord O n e thousand eight hundred andfifty-one,and in thefifteenthyear of H e r Majesty's reign. (L.S.)
C. J.
LATROBE.
By His Excellency's c o m m a n d , GOD
SAVE T H E Q U E E N !
The First License Regulations
Were issued without delay in a document, which, as a relic of the primitive goldfields' administration, is worthy of extraction, viz.:— Colonial Secretary's Office, Melbourne, 18th August, 1851.
Licenses to Dig and Search for Gold.
With reference to the Proclamation issued on the 16th inst., declaring the rights of the Crown in respect to gold found in its natural places of deposit within the colony of Victoria, His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, has been pleased to establish the following Provisional Regulations under which licenses may be obtained to dig, search for, and remove the same:— 1. From and after the first day of September next no person will be permitted to dig, search for, or remove gold on or from any land, whether public or private, without first taking out and paying for a license in the form annexed. 2. For the present, and pending further proof of the extent of the gold deposits, the license fee has been fixed at one pound ten shillings per month, to be paid in advance; but it is to be understood that the rate is subject to future adjustment as circumstances may render expedient. 3. The licenses can be obtained on the spot from the Commissioner who has been appointed by His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor to carry these Regulations into effect, and who is authorized to receive the fee payable thereon. 4. No person will be eligible to obtain a license, or the renewal of a license, unless he shall produce a certificate of discharge from his last service, or prove to the satisfaction of the Commissioner that he is not a person improperly absent from hired service. 5. Rules adjusting the extent and position of land to be covered by each licence for the prevention of confusion and the interference of one license with another, will be regulated by the Commissioner of Crown Lands who may be appointed to each locality. 6. With reference to lands alienated by the Crown in fee-simple, the Commissioner will not be authorized for the present to issue licenses under these Regulations, to any person but the proprietor or persons authorized by them in writing to apply for the same.
By His Excellency's command, W. LONSDALE.
On the 20th August it was reported that there were between one hundred and fifty and two hundred persons at Anderson's Creek, digging, smashing and washing. The ground was about three miles in extent, and in almost every instance something was found; one Tom Fletcher cleared £8 in a week. A quicksilver cradle was turned into two common cradles, and so answered better than before. Good order prevailed, and the diggers were so God-fearing that they religiously struck work on the Sunday. Persons going there were strongly advised to carry with them iron wedges and hammers, the more effectually to cut into the quartz. The public peace there was looked after by four policemen.
The First Gold Exhibits.
Gold now began to make its appearance as an object of admiration in the shop windows, and the first regular display of this kind was on view on the 20th August, at the drapery establishment of Mr. Charles Williamson, Collins Street, afterwards the well known "Block" mart of Alston and Brown. It was an assortment weighing 21 ounces, received from Clunes. It was of a darkish colour, and had been transmitted to Melbourne for analysis and valuation. The charging of a license fee occasioned much dissatisfaction, for it was believed to be both premature and excessive in amount; and furthermore, the wet weather had set in, and the gold-searching could not be prosecuted by reason of the floods. Public indignation was so unmistakably expressed through the Press, and an open demonstration being threatened, that the Government stayed its hand so far as to sanction some modification of the published Regulations. After about a week's consideration the Colonial Secretary wrote, under date 26th August, to Mr. F. C. Doveton, who had been appointed a Goldfields Commissioner, intimating that although gold is still being found, and though the number of people is still increasing in the several localities where gold is being obtained, it is doubtful whether the quantity procured is sufficient to remunerate the persons so employed. He is to act with great circumspection, in carrying out the Regulations ​previously issued; and though no person must be permitted to search for gold without permission the enforcement of the Regulations to their full extent, as regards the license fee, was to be guided by the circumstances of each particular case, and at the Commissioner's discretion. For his guidance, however, principal rules were laid down to the following effect :—Mere searchers for metal were to receive a card signed by the Commissioner, dated, inscribed with the names of the persons to whom issued, and the words " Permitted to Search." T h e permit was not to run for any specified period, and the recipients were to be made clearly to understand that unless they had paid for a license they were not entitled to anything of value they m a y find, nor have any claim to work any other particular spot of ground; and should any person take out a license for the locality occupied by those using permits, the former would be put in possession. As to the issue of the license, the utmost discretion was enjoined, so as to guard against the payment of a fee by those whose gold finding m a y not afford it, through the inadequacy of their results, and be so deterred from further search; and on the other hand to protect the revenue in the case of those able to pay, but not doing so. Considerable difficulty was apprehended in acting as instructed, from the desire of people to conceal the real extent of their "takes;" but every possible means were to be used to ascertain the truth, and full report was to be made upon every particular, accompanied by the expression of an opinion respecting the license fee. The most desirable mode of obtaining payment for licenses was cash, but if this could not be done, gold was to be accepted, and the quantity to be given for a license was to be calculated according to the rate at which discoveries dispose of it on the spot, or in the neighbourhood. All gold so received was to be transmitted to the Colonial Treasury. This did not allay the ferment, for on the 30th a public meeting was held at the Mechanics' Institute, to consider the situation. T h e Mayor presided, and resolutions to the following purport were unanimously adopted :—(a.) Affirming the inexpediency of imposing any charge for a monthly license, as no goldfield had as yet been profitably worked, or gold found to render profit probable, (b.) That the development of gold and other minerals existing in the colony was of vital importance, and that steps be taken to discover such, (c.) That the Government ought to appoint two officers (same as in Sydney), whose special duties should be to develop the mineral resources of Victoria. (d.) An expression of sympathy with the Buninyong miners, (e.) T h e presentation to the Lieutenant-Governor of a Memorial embodying the resolutions. T h e Mayor, Messrs. A. Thorpe, A. H . Hart, J. S. Johnston, Connor, J. Coate, J. A. Gumbinner, and James Montgomery were appointed a Committee to give effect to the wishes of the meeting. The imposition of a fee and the inclemency of the weather caused a dispersion at Buninyong, and the gold-hunters struck out in search of " freshfields" in the neighbouring ranges, which had the natural effect of leading to further discoveries. Rich finds were stumbled on at Yuille's station, near the Buninyong Gully. This watercourse took a serpentine direction to a place known as Greenhill, through dense stringy-bark ranges, alternating inflats,and gathering several tributaries to swell its current, until it assumed the form of a river at the new goldfield. Passing on through Yuille's and Winter's stations, it commingled with, or more correctly, became the Leigh; and here, at the bases of several undulating hills, were the evidences of the new diggings found. fragments of quartz were scattered along the hills, which in some places looked like mounds of snow. The surface was black earth, the sub-surface yellow gravel mixed with clay and quartz, and occasionally huge conglomerates of both. Several parties fell in with immense good fortune here, and one of them was reported to have dug 2% lbs. of gold out of a claim just after marking it one Saturday evening. Another party netted 23 ounces in a short time, and the valuable deposits were supposed to run along the Leigh. Gold was purchased for from £3 IS. to £3 4 s. per ounce.
THE BALLARAT GOLDFIELDS.
Warrenheip was next reached, and by the middle of September Ballarat was found, and the Clunes diggers were on the move there. Various finds were reported, such as four persons obtaining ​68 ounces in eight days, one 8 ounces in a week, and two persons 6 ounces 46 grains in five days. By the 17th one thousand persons were declared to be at Buninyong and its neighbourhood. Mr. G. H . Wathen returned from a two months' tour northward of Buninyong, between Avoca and Mount Alexander, and everywhere he went he heard rumours of gold discoveries. A party of m e n had settled in a spot—a small secluded valley in the vicinity of M o u n t Alexander, only one mile west of the Melbourne and Swan Hill Road, where they found gold in quartz veins traversing primary clay and mica slate. These strata were nearly vertical, and running north and south. T h e quartz was more rotten, and therefore more easily worked than at Clunes, and was, if anything, richer. T h e range where this was found was a prolongation of that of which Buninyong formed part. T h e Buninyong field was set down as one of the heads of the Leigh, which rises in Warrenheip, and forms a junction with Buninyong Gully, about six miles from the township. Towards the close of the month Ballarat burst forth in all its golden glories, and its diggings completely outshone all the others. T h e finds were abundant and general, and the diggers were so satisfied, and in such good humour with themselves and all the world, that they were willing to pay the obnoxious license fee, but they besought the Government to give them some police protection. By the 24th September one hundred and sixty licenses were taken out, and annexed is a copy of the first issued there :— VICTORIA GOLD LICENSE, 21ST SEPTEMBER, 1851.
No. The bearer, , having paid to m e the sum offifteenshillings on account of the Territorial Revenue, I hereby license him to dig, search for, and remove gold on and from the district of Buninyong and Loddon, as I shall assign to him for that purpose, during the month of September, 1851. The quantity of ground allowed is eight feet square. T h e license to be produced when demanded by m e , or any other person acting under the authority of Government. F. C. D O V E T O N , Commissioner.
On 23rd September, Lieutenant Lydiard and twelve black troopers were despatched to the diggings.
FURTHER REGULATIONS.
Supplementary instructions were issued by the Executive on Michaelmas Day (29th September). This step was declared to be taken " consequent upon the recent undoubted discovery of gold in the vicinity of Buninyong to a considerable extent." It was ordered that the " Permission cards" were to be totally discontinued, and licenses must be issued to all persons employed in digging for gold, at the rate specified in the notice of the 18th August. Anything like the transfer of a license from one person to another was forbidden, and to be prevented as far as possible, for which purpose a personal description of the licensee, sufficient to enable detection, was to be inserted on the counterpart of the books from which the license forms were obtained. T h e licensee was to be instructed to have the license constantly with him, which he was to be frequently called on to produce, and reference m a d e to the counterpart to ascertain if the appearance of the holder agreed with the recorded description. Certain licenses were to be issued at each person's workings instead of attendance at a stated place, and the fee, when not paid in money, was to consist of pure washed gold, at the rate of ^ 3 per ounce, to be weighed in the scales furnished. A constant inspection of the workings was to be kept up to ascertain "that there are no n e w comers without licenses, and that order and regularity are preserved," in which duties the Commissioner's assistants were also to be employed. A conveyance for the gold, under escort to Melbourne and Geelong, was about to be established, and the Commissioner was to give security in the joint bond of himself, and two sureties for ^2,000 each. Several other matters were to claim constant attention, viz., a description of persons w h o m a y not be permitted to work, particularly servants w h o have left their masters without a discharge, the extent of space to be allowed to each licensee upon an equitable principle according to the apparent richness of the soil, the suppression of any attempted gambling, drinking, or any other vices and irregularities, and maintaining good order and good feeling among the workers, upon which no especial directions could be given, as they were matters BBB 2 ​for "discretion and judgment, combining promptitude with firmness, and conciliatory manner, and persuading to a right course before stronger measures are resorted to." For this purpose reliance was to be placed upon the co-operation of the workers, among w h o m regulations were to be established, and some of the most respectable and willing were appointed special constables. The desirableness was also impressed "of causing Sundays to be properly observed; to put down all attempts, should there be any, to labour on these days, and to encourage and promote by all possible means the attendance of the people at religious observances, if the clergy in the vicinity should find themselves in a position to afford means for public worship." Favourable accounts poured in every hour to Melbourne, and one gentleman on his way down counted 400 persons and 70 drays on the route from town. O n the 27th, two brothers, named Cavanagh, appeared in Geelong with 60 pounds' weight of gold (valued at ^2,300) the produce of four weeks' work.
THE FIRST GOVERNMENT ESCORT.
The Government at length determined upon organizing a weekly armed escort for the safe conveyance of gold from Buninyong to Geelong, and thence per steamer to Melbourne. It was to leave Buninyong every Tuesday at 6 a.m., arriving in Geelong at 4 p.m., and the following morning start for Melbourne, where it was due at 3.30 p.m. All gold to be so sent was to be forwarded to Buninyong by 4 p.m. on the Monday, where an authorized officer would take charge of it. Previous to receiving it, he was to have it accurately weighed in the presence of the bringer, and then tie it up in a leather bag which was to be sealed and labelled with the weight, the name of sender, and consignee, and whether resident at Melbourne or Geelong. The depositor was to receive a receipt containing all the labelled particulars. There were to be two boxes in which the gold would be secured, viz., one for Geelong, and one for Melbourne. O n reaching Geelong, both boxes were to be placed in charge of the Police Magistrate, who was next morning to deliver the Melbourne box to the officer in charge of the escort, who was to duly hand it over to the Colonial Treasurer. The consignees would receive their gold at Geelong and Melbourne upon producing their authority, signing a receipt, and paying an escort charge of one per cent., on washed gold, to be estimated at the rate of £5 per oz.; and on gold mixed with a larger portion of stone at the rate of £2 10s. per cent. Every precaution was to be taken for the safety of the escorted gold, but in the event of loss, the Government was not to be responsible for it. ' O n the 9th October special instructions were issued for the conduct of the escort. Instead of the sender fetching his gold to Buninyong, it was found more convenient that the Commissioner should collect and deliver it to the Police Magistrate, who was for such purpose to go guarded every Monday to the Commissioner's station, take over the gold, and bring it to Buninyong. The mounted men of the general police doing duty at Ballarat were to be withdrawn, and the Buninyong Police Magistrate was to have under his control 1 sergeant, 1 farrier, 29 troopers, with 1 non-commissioned officer, and 5 troopers of the native police, whose cost was to be paid from the Territorial Revenue. T w o troopers were to be detached to Melbourne, to form the escort from the river Exe to Melbourne, whilst two more were to go to Geelong as an escort from Ritchie's to the Exe, 1 trooper to be stationed at each of those places to take charge of forage, and render assistance if required. The escort from Buninyong would be furnished from that place, proceeding as far as Ritchie's on Tuesday, and returning next day. The escort was to consist of two mounted men to be relieved at the different stations, and an armed trooper in the mail-cart who accompanied it the whole way, and returned with the cart, the entire party to be under the command of Mr. Lydiard. Mr. Commissioner Doveton was to have a trooper-orderly, and 1 sergeant with 10 troopers for protection, and to maintain the public peace. O n the 18th it was announced that arrangements were made for the substitution of Ballarat for Buninyong as the starting-point of the escort. The mail contractor would be permitted to bring one or two passengers with the gold, "provided they were gentlemen well known to the Police ​Magistrate, or that he could be certain of their respectability." T h e passengers were not to bring any golden luggage, unless they paid the i per cent, on it. From time to time fresh orders were issued, amending the original Regulations. T h e principal modifications enjoined are for the convenience of the reader here grouped, irrespective of date. Persons wishing to deposit their gold in a temporary place of safety might deliver it to the custody of the Colonial Treasurer, in which case duplicate statements of the contents of the deposited bag and name and description of owner, should be prepared, one of them for retention at the Treasury, T h e officer in and the other by the owner, to be presented by him when the gold was claimed. charge of the escort was never to lose sight of the treasure during transit, and his m e n were not under any pretext, to be allowed to leave the immediate vicinity of the horses bearing it, and at night it was to be deposited "in the room where the officer himself is," and a sufficient guard was to be kept constantly over it. During the night the whole of the escort should rest in the mmediate vicinity of where the gold was, and on reaching Melbourne it was to be handed over to the Treasurer, for which purpose the escort should arrive in town not later than 2 p.m. O n the 25th November very precise injunctions were promulgated with reference to the Mount Alexander escort then established. T h e escort was to consist of four armed m e n , besides an armed m a n in the cart under the charge of Mr. A. Templeton. It was to leave the M o u n t every Tuesday morning, at six o'clock, and proceed that day, with a change of cart-horse at Carlsruhe, to the Mount Macedon Police Station. T h e boxes containing the gold were then to be placed in the watch-house, being still under the charge of the escort, w h o were invariably to remain there at night, having one m a n constantly on sentry. Next morning the journey to Melbourne was to be resumed, and, with another horse change at the Deep Creek, the destination was to be reached by 1.30 p.m. Resting for a day in Melbourne, the escort left for its return trip at an early hour on Friday. A s it was evident, from the quantity of gold likely to be forwarded, that the arrangement existent of carrying it in saddle-bags would not answer, it was determined to procure a convenient cart with iron boxes fitted to it, which was to be sent up as soon as possible, and until this vehicle was available the saddle-bag system was to remain. T h e cart-driver was to be a trooper, and under any circumstance to be armed; whilst another armed trooper was to sit by him. T w o of the escort were to ride at a convenient distance in the rear, whilst two others should be a short distance in advance of the cart as a precaution against sudden attack. T h e m e n were to be kept together day and night, and the leader was to be always on his guard to prevent the ill effects of a sudden attack. A full relay of horses was to be kept in a paddock at M o u n t Macedon, under charge of a constable; and no further relay was deemed necessary, except of a cart-horse at Carlsruhe; the change of the cart-horse between Mount Macedon and Melbourne being m a d e by a horse to be sent from Melbourne to the Deep Creek early on Wednesday morning for the purpose. T h e m e n composing the escort need not be relieved on the road, and they were to return to M o u n t Alexander in precisely the same manner as directed for their route to Melbourne. T h e first gold escort from Buninyong, or, as it was more generally termed, from Ballarat, arrived at Geelong on the 28th September, in charge of an officer of mounted police, two white and two black troopers, and accompanied by a Commissioner. It left the diggings on the morning of the 27th, and, though intimation of its departure was publicly given, but few of the miners availed themselves of it. T h e officer in charge brought a few parcels, most of it the property of the Government, and valued at ^ 2 0 0 0 . At the time of leaving, great harmony prevailed on the gold-fields. T h e diggers, with few exceptions, were well disposed towards paying the license fee, and licenses were applied for almost as fast as they could be issued. S o m e extraordinary "finds" were reported, such as 16 lbs. by one party, and £^o worth of a morning, in a dishful of washing stuff. The Commissioner roughly estimated the takings at from % oz. to 2 ozs. per m a n per diem, whilst the population was reckoned at between 1500 and 2000, not counting the prospecting or outlying parties, numbering some 500. T h e escort passed between 700 and 800 persons on the road, whilst three or four times as m a n y were supposed to be moving from Melbourne. T h e population was streaming to the diggings from all quarters, and it was calculated that before a week the digging ​country would be in receipt of a thousand new faces every day. The road from Melbourne was so bad that drays could hardly get over portions of it. THE FIRST MELBOURNE COACH
Was started by Mr. James Watt, the landlord of the Border Inn, at Bacchus Marsh. It was to ply twice a week between Melbourne and Ballarat, leaving the corner of Elizabeth and Lonsdale Streets every Monday and Thursday at 2 p.m., arriving at Ballarat at 3 p.m. on Tuesday and Friday; returning at 8 a.m. on Wednesday and Saturday, and arriving in Melbourne at 10 a.m. on Thursday and Monday. Fare, each way, 25s., with moderate charges for parcels, and all booked, if not exceeding 5 lbs., would be carefully conveyed. The coach commenced running on the 6th of October, and its hoggings and breakdowns would fill a volume, though no deaths, and hardly any broken bones, were to be laid to its charge. N o doubt the slowness of pace and the softness of the road had a great deal to do in averting dangerous accidents.
BALLARAT IN ITS GLORY.
The accounts from Ballarat were so astounding as to unsettle the equanimity of the most unimpressionable Stoic ; not mere rumour, but great golden facts of undoubted reliability. Mr. J. D. Hill, a gentleman of unquestioned veracity, thus wrote (30th September) to Messrs. Russell and Thomas, architects and surveyors, in Melbourne :—" Every m a n here (at Ballarat) is doing well, and our party in four days took 80 lbs. weight of gold out of one hole, and Goodness knows how much more there may be left there." The Ballarat correspondent of the Geelong Advertiser forwarded the most glowing description of the place, and declared the general average yield to each man to be upwards of an ounce and a-quarter per day. His letters were not only gilded, but saturated with gold, and from one dated 29th September I extract a "specimen," viz.:— "If Fortunatus had thrown the contents of his cap over the lands of Ballarat, the yield of riches would not have been increased. Here strata are delved into for riches, which repay a thousand-fold the labour expended upon them. The yield is immense, and seemingly inexhaustible. The gold lays in 'pockets' in the blue slatey clay, and may be picked out with a knife-point. So rich indeed is it that many have abandoned cradle workings for tin dishes, which have yielded from two to three ounces in the washing. Many will make fortunes, hundreds a competency, and the vast majority will do wel1 I bttle thought when I first started to Buninyong that it would fall to m y lot to chronicle facts which, if embodied in romance, or made the elements of a fairy tale, would have excited a smile of incredulity. • The month of September, 1851, is the most eventful epoch in the history of Victoria. It will stand in golden letters in our Kalend, and will be a datum line to start on our new career of prosperity." O n the Ballarat diggings there was a picturesque hill, which soon became a grand focus of attraction. From its riches it was known as "Golden Point"; but it was quickly burrowed into, spoiled of its beauty, and reft of its treasures. One man, in a delirium of rejoicing, wrote to a friend in Melbourne :— " I would not change m y eight-feet square (the space allotted to a digger by his license) for a squatter's station on the Murray." Geelong, ever prone to super-exultation, was almost beside itself, and anticipated wonders from the Ballarat developments. It regarded the Buninyong and Ballarat territory as a Geelongese dependency, all because these places happened to be a few miles nearer to it than to Melbourne. Indeed the Advertiser complacently designated them "Our Geelong Diggings," and endeavoured to screw much capital out of the circumstance that, though they were fifty miles from Geelong, they were eighty from Melbourne; and because the road from Melbourne was so gullied that the mail to
The Stampede from Melbourne.
The Gold Fever was now regularly scattering the seeds of the epidemic far and wide. Every station was denuded of its helping handle, and sheep and bullocks were left to mind themselves. The few country townships were deserted, and Kyneton, the most important, was left without as much as a drink of water, for the few water-carriers there had sold their carts and horses and ran away. To make matters worse the baker's loaf became a nonentity, and the townspeople were glad to fall back upon devouring the primitive " damper." On the 8th October Lieut.-Governor Latrobe set forth for the diggings, leaving Melbourne in a state of chaos behind him. The fever raged in highway and by-way; intense excitement ruled everywhere, and nothing was talked about but gold, and the universal question asked by everybody of every other body was, " When are you off to the diggings ?" Almost every one was either gone, going, or preparing to go—rich and poor, high and low, gentle and simple. Labourers struck work, clerks deserted their desks, and "counter-jumpers" jumped away, all dreaming of nothing but the road to fortune, and the fortune that only awaited the picking up at the end of the journey. In two or three days hundreds had left, and those who remained were busily engaged in getting ready for the tramp. Every possible device was resorted to in the way of providing for the step about to be taken. Those who were not in funds and had anything vendible got rid of it, and every species of saleable commodity was converted into cash, for the purchase of supplies. Cradles, picks, shovels, and hammers were bought; drays, drags, and carts put in readiness, and it was seriously apprehended that if this state of things was, in any degree, intensified, both Melbourne and Geelong would be drained of all their male population, and garrisoned only by women and girls. Even the police had gone into the scare, and so many of them flung away their batons as to create a general uneasiness through a fear of the difficulty of procuring substitutes for the protection of life and property. Intimation was given to the Licensed Victuallers, that such of them as left the town, would be accounted as absentees, and their licenses forfeited for public-house desertion. There was even a run on the banks by persons desirous of withdrawing deposits, and one forenoon the Union Bank was blockaded in such a manner as to render it necessary to call in the police to preserve order amongst the angry infatuated crowd. The clearing out of Government clerks and every other class of salary or wage earners was growing general. Mechanics, servants, labourers, etc., left with or without notice; and any who applied for leave and did not get it, very unceremoniously took "PVench leave." There was hardly a carter to be found in town, and horses and drays were, by some mysteriously rapid process, melted into "tin," to supply the travelling expenses. Sailors deserted their ships, striplings ten or eleven years old, with tin pannikins and bits of hoop iron, some of them barefooted and many in rags, darted off like so many wild animals, not knowing what they were doing unless they were on the road to the diggings ; and in order to keep a few police and prison warders at their posts, their pay had to be raised to 6s. and 7s. per day respectively. But to one class (and the least deserving) of the community, an acceptable holiday had come; and they were "in clover," viz.:—• the prisoners sentenced to hard labour, for they had nothing to do, as stone-breaking had to be abandoned, for the supply of stone had run out, and there were neither quarrymen nor draymen available. In the midst of all this turmoil, Mr. E. P. Sturt, the energetic Superintendent of Police, took it into his head, inopportunely, to get married, and during the honey-mooning, Mr. N. A. Fenwick was appointed his locum tenens, a change certainly not for the better. Then came a dearth and dearness of food in town, where provisions went up 25 and water 100 per cent, for nearly all the men were away, and the women took their turn at the pumps and became water suppliers. Richmond was so thoroughly deserted that a newspaper declares, that on one day only one old fellow was to be seen hobbling about, and with a phiz so shrouded in anxiety as to induce a belief that he had been left behind as the sole care-taker-general of all the women and children. As to Melbourne, its streets were as deserted as Collins Street on a Saturday afternoon is now, but at every second shop door heaps of cradles were to be seen for sale, so much so, that a humourist of the period pronounced the town to resemble a huge lying-in settlement, minus the babies. ​As a climax, the yellow fever burst upon the newspaper offices to such an extent as to explode some, and seriously threaten the existence of all. T h e Victoria Colonist, a Geelong daily, was extinguished; the Banner of Victoria, and the Victoria Family Herald (two small weeklies) collapsed, and Ham's Illustrated Magazine soon followed suit. Serious apprehensions were entertained as to whether the three Melbourne journals could survive the shock, whilst the Geelong Advertiser declared its intention of starting a weekly paper, to be called the Prospector, at Ballarat. U p to the 6th October, all the gold brought down by the escorts (2) did not exceed the value of ,£3000, i.e, ^ 2 0 0 0 thefirst,and ^ 1 0 0 0 the second, although enormous finds were daily reported; and on the 1st, a m a n entered the Bank of Australasia with ,£500 worth of gold sealed up in a box, which he stated he had procured by four days' washing, but where he would not tell. O n the 6th October, the Colonial Secretary received a letter from Mr. E. Bell, the Private Secretary, who had gone to Ballarat, to the effect that in his presence two m e n had washed out one day before breakfast 10 lbs. 4 ozs. of pure gold from two tin dishes, but once filled. H e stood by in amazement during the operation.
A BUSY DAY
Was the same 6th in parts of Melbourne. The first coach left Passmore's Hotel, Elizabeth and Lonsdale Streets, for ihe diggings, laden with passengers. There was also a considerable pedestrian migration of men, several of w h o m were accompanied by w o m e n and children, some of the last scarcely able to walk. Three stalwart fellows contrived a rude form of velocipede out of a piece of wood mounted on three wheels, one before and two astern. O n the beam they strapped saddles, got on them, and set to propel with their feet. With this locomotion they managed to get out of town, but there was soon a smash, and the ordinary "shanks' mare" had to be substituted. Another turn-out was a drag drawn by four large bull-dogs, attended by three m e n as ferocious-looking as the dogs, leading two others as reliefs for the road. T h e vehicle was well weighted with supplies and "swags." The following day the Lieutenant-Oovernor returned from his country trip, and the day after an escort arrived, thus invoiced : — T h e Government for Licenses, 500 ozs.; for Melbourne, 343 ozs.; and Geelong, 394 ozs. — 1 2 3 7 ozs. Large quantities were reported as brought privately. Already it began to be ascertained that it was not all good luck, as there were numerous disappointments ; and though the people were going by thousands, they were commencing to return in hundreds. It was estimated that there were over 7000 persons on the ground. Outrage in Melbourne was rare, for all the evil-blooded characters had "sloped" away to the richer harvest-field; but robberies soon set in at Ballarat. O n the 9th thefirsttragedy occurred there in the person of a man, who, whilst undermining his neighbour, was half buried alive by a fall of earth, and had legs and several ribs broken. H e died soon after. Already the ministers of religion were to the front, for officiating among the Ballaratarians were the Rev. C. T. Perks (Episcopalian), A. Morison (Independent), and P. Dunne (Roman Catholic). THE STRAITS OF TRADE.
As could not well be otherwise in such a condition of utter unsettlement, every branch of business was damped for the time by a general depression, especially all retail traffic, not even excepting the pubhehouses, some of whose bars were empty from morning till night. This was owing to two causes, viz., the virtual vacation of the town by so many of its inhabitants, and the absence of those helps, without w h o m business, unless on the smallest scale, is not possible. Shop hands and journeymen were not to be found, and under this stress several places were virtually closed ; whilst others, by a great effort and additional outlay, succeeded in keeping their establishments going until the human tide ebbed. The newspapers contain several curious advertisements bearing on the subject, and from them I transcribe three ex. o-ra. .•— ​Mr. Francis M'Donnell, tailor, Collins Street, " begs to inform his customers, that in consequnce of all his workmen leaving him to go to the gold ' diggings' he is obliged to shut up his shop and suspend business for a month from this date." (6th October). Mr. William Hoffman, butcher, Elizabeth Street, "respectfully informs the public that he does not intend closing his establishment." Mr. John Lush, tailor and draper, Collins Street, " has m a d e arrangements with his men, and is thereby enabled to keep open his establishment, where business continues to be conducted, etc." The Melbourne journals had difficulty enough to induce sufficient compositors to remain to enable issues, m a d e as light as possible, to be brought out; but the proprietors were regularly driven into a corner to keep on a staff of three or four boys each, as runners; for papers then wrere delivered every morning direct from the offices to the subscribers, and no such convenient modern usages were known as paper-sellers in the streets, or agents. T h e regular boys had almost all decamped, and there were instances where principals turned their o w n sons into morning Mercuries, and borrowed juveniles from their friends for the same purpose. This difficulty continued for several weeks.
THE DOCTOR'S PROCESSION TO THE DIGGINGS.
Melbourne could at this time boast of possessing amongst its medicoes, Mr. I). J. Thomas, a surgeon of considerable eminence, and an individual occasionally prone to harmless eccentricities. H e conceived a notion of organizing something like a State procession to the gold-fields, a mixed cavalcade, for it was to be both vehicular and equestrian, including both ladies and gentlemen. He carried out his project too, for on the morning of the 14th October, a large scrap of the h u m a n remnant remaining in town, paraded to see "the Doctor" and his cortege starting for their destination The procession was thus formed:—Surgeon Thomas, in a four-horse drag, acting as whip and conductor-in-chief, surrounded by a bevy of ten lady passengers, the reverse of unattractive; then succeeded a barouche and pair similarly freighted, followed in turn by three ladies on horseback, attended by two equerries in the persons of Captain R. H . Bunbury, the Harbour Master and Mr. W . A. C. A'Beckett, then a rather good-looking harmless-faced young man. Though they had a perilous journey before them, they got through it well, for a newspaper of the time records " That they started on a Tuesday and arrived safe on Saturday, having only broken two poles, and camped out a night." They got into Ballarat, where there was then no township, in dashing style, and were vociferously cheered on their arrival by the congregated diggers. O n e day during the past week, whilst enjoying a meditative stroll near the Hobson's Bay Railway Station, by a chance I met one of the two surviving gentlemen of this singular expedition, and on mentioning it to him, he was immensely amused by the awakening of an event which had gone to sleep in his memory, and had passed out of his recollection for years. H e good-humouredly promised to supply m e with a few particulars about it, and two days after I received the following communication from him :— " As to the precise day or month, or even year, I cannot tell you, but sure enough the excursion you spoke of came off. Dr. T h o m a s had been talking about arranging a holiday trip out of town, and his intention was originally to go to the top of Mount Macedon, a wild enough notion at the time, for it would be beset by m u c h difficulty; so, on consideration, he decided on a change of route, and a trip to the diggings was substituted. A party was accordingly organized, consisting, as far as I can n o w recollect, of—Dr. Thomas, Captain Bunbury (the Harbour Master), Mr. Lloyd Jones (the well-known squatter), Mr. W . A. C. A'Beckett, and Dr. Thomas's Groom. T h e lady contingent comprised— Mrs. Thomas and her little daughter, Miss H — y — y , Mrs. E. B r, Mrs. Alexander H r (whose husband was at the diggings), Miss S 1 (now Mrs. Dr. R 11), Mrs. L e, Miss Elizabeth B e (now Mrs. M . G e), and Miss M ' M n (daughter of Dr. M ' M n, Medical Officer). This is all I can remember of the party. It was fine weather, and our route was over the plains to Staughton's Werribee Station (Exford), thence by Balkan to what is n o w Gordons, and ​on to Ballarat. T h e ladies were conveyed, some in a four-horse waggon like a brake, driven by Thomas, who, not only being a good doctor, was an excellent whip; whilst others were piloted by Mr. Lloyd Jones, in a two-horse carriage. Mrs. B r, another lady, Bunbury, and A'Beckett, travelled on horseback, and thefirstmentioned was thrown, but not hurt. In the evening w e got to Staughton's, where w e were hospitably entertained. T h e next day w e went via Griffith and Greene's Station to Labillieres, and on the way the pole of the principal vehicle broke several times, in consequence of the steep gullies to be got through, and the pole not yielding as Yankee poles do. The author of the well-known works on Australia, young Labilliere, was there, a precocious over-learned boy, with a strong Irish brogue. In the course of the next day's journey, rearward of the house w e had to ascend a very steep hill to get to Ballan, and the ascent of this was the finest piece of driving I ever witnessed. All the ladies had to walk up the hill, and at the summit was a stiff pinch for about fifty yards, with a narrow track only wide enough for one vehicle, and on the other side was a steep precipice of some hundred feet. Dr. T h o m a s had to get his four horses up this, and then turn the leaders before the wheelers to avoid going down the precipice. H e had taken the cross-country route, instead of the ordinary and present roadway, to escape the traffic and crowds which had cut up the thoroughfare ; but at Ballan, I think, w e must have joined the main track. O n w e went that night until dark, and had to put up with the bush, where w e had the enjoyment of good fires. When morning broke, w e had the mortification to learn that some of the horses were lost, but found after some trouble and delay, when w e started, and soon succeeded in making old Inglis's Station at Lai Lai; after this w e went right into Ballarat, where the diggings had only recently broken out. For miles the place was nothing but holes and quartz pebbles, tents, tin pans, and cradles for gold washing—no such object to be seen as a house. W e were cheered as w e passed along, being, no doubt, thefirstpleasure party that had ever visited a gold-field in Victoria. W e met with several Melbourne identities, who had temporarily abandoned their businesses and professions to try their luck there, such as Frank Stephen and his party, Alex. Hunter, J. B. Bennett, Solicitor, and others. W e slept at the camp, the ladies, if I mistake not, being accommodated on flour bags. There can be doubt that, at the time, the diggers knew but very little of the gold they found. I saw one of them offer a nugget as large as a walnut for £ 5 ; it must have been worth at least ,£20. T h e camp was on Golden Point (a contrast now and then). W e left there for Buninyong, and had it very rough all the way to Geelong. W e stopped for the night at a public-house kept by a Mrs. Jamieson, sleeping on chairs in the bar, and a large table in a room. T h e next night w e were more comfortably housed at Meredith, and finished off at Ceelong about the tenth day out. Next morning w e returned to Melbourne per steamer; but I cannot say whether Dr. T h o m a s despatched the traps and horses by road to Melbourne or not. This is all I can remember of the affair." The " R e d Rover" coach was now running between Ballarat and Geelong, and both it and the conveyance from Melbourne had rough times of it, in consequence of the manner in which the two main roads were ploughed up. Travelling by coach was then queer and ricketty work, from the frequent sticking in the "glue pots," the getting in and out of passengers up and down hill, the breaking of poles, snapping of harness, plunging, kicking, and stopping of horses, and other trifles too numerous to particularize. T h e following description of life at the diggings on 13th October is from the pen of Mr. Henry Lineham, once a proprietor of the well-known White Hart Hotel, Bourke Street •— "Picture to yourself a space of ground covered with tents! Thousands at work! Cradles, barrows, and pickaxes all going together ! Shouting, laughing and singing ! Such a confusion and a noise that you are bewildered! A n d then at night, all lighted up with about a thousand fires; and then old acquaintances, dressed in red shirts, and with long beards, tailors with moustachios, doctors, and tinkers, all working together. Picture to yourself Dr. Campbell carrying soil on his head in a tin dish, -n . T 1 1 . and Dal. Campbell rocking a cradle- next to him ic n„v 0 c ,„~ 1 • T. 1 ., T ,8 ' uext l0 n i m 1S> Uykes working. But I have done. D o not come! Stay at h o m e until I send for you ; and when I do that, be sure that I have found a Golden Mountain." A publican named Woodlock arrived in Melbourne on the 15th, from Ballarat, with a lump of gold weighing 8 lbs the largest single nugget yet found. It was exhibited for a few days at the Horse and Jockey Tavern in Little Bourke Street East, and the landlord m a d e a good thing ​out of the sight-seeing, through the impetus it gave his nobbier-selling. Woodlock's good fortune did not thrive with him, for six years after (in 1857) he was executed for murder in the Mebourne Gaol. Mr. T. T. A'Beckett published an extremly interesting pamphlet intituled The Gold and the Government, — a well-written, scholarly brochure, teeming with good advice, and indirectly advocating what was afterwards legalized—"An Export Duty on Gold." M r . William Westgarth, w h o had visited Ballarat, gave it as his opinion that upwards of £10,000 worth of gold was the daily yield at and about "Golden Point," where some 7000 persons were at work, and would therefore average something like £1 8s. 6d. per diem. Sly-grog selling and drinking had not only commenced, but was in full swing there, and ^ 8 0 0 worth of the contraband stuff had been seized by the police. The average price of gold was n o w from £3 to £$ 2s., and every day brought accounts of much success, but more failures. O n the 22nd October a party of four m e n arrived in town from Ballarat with 93 lbs. of gold, procured, as they declared, in 14 days at "Golden Point." They offered their treasure for sale to Messrs. Symons and Perry, but could not agree upon terms. T h e m e n were there o w n escort, and came d o w n heavily armed. Towards the close of the month a weekly mail was established between Melbourne and Ballarat. Another false alarm was got up in Melbourne by some publicans in the suburbs procuring a quantity of gold leaf, old brass and copper filings and mica. A pseudo-auriferous amalgam was compounded from these ingredients, and with it the neighbourhood of certain hotels was "salted" and several gold cries started. O n e of the supposed new gold-fields was off West Lonsdale Street, near the Fagstaff Hill; another, above all places in the world, at Sandridge; a third at Collingwood; and a fourth at Richmond. There were " rushes" to each of the " diggings," the publicans profited by the shabby hoaxes, the gold-hunters vowed vengeance, but still incontinently tippled, and a party of police had to be called out to prevent the Lonsdale thoroughfares being broken up with excavations.
THE MOUNT ALEXANDER GOLDFIELD.
Dr. William Barker was the occupier of what was known as the Mount Alexander Station, on part of which the T o w n of Castlemaine is built, and stretching northwards in the direction of Sandhurst. Employed here as a hut-keeper was a m a n named Christopher T h o m a s Peters. O n e day in July (1851) this person whilst pottering about a waterhole on Barker's Creek, which was subsequently known as " Specimen Gully," found some samples of gold. H e communicated the discovery to three fellow-servants. They formed a party and worked the gully until the 1st September, when they desisted for fear of being prosecuted and punished for trespass, and one of them, named Warbey, communicated the discovery to a Melbourne newspaper. Roving diggers from Ballarat, in quest of new revelations, were scouring the country in all directions, and as good news travels often as rapidly as bad, some of them were not long in hearing of Barker's Creek, where people quickly collected, and one of thefirstintimations received in town was that three m e n had got 73 ozs. there in a day. During the month of October occasional "finds" were reported, and ere the 1st November had arrived the M o u n t Alexander goldfield flamed forth in all its glory, Melbourne being dazzled by the intelligence received. A M r . Leete made his appearance in town with 250 ozs. of gold as good in quality as that of Ballarat, obtained in a week by him and four others. It was found in the bed of a nearly dry creek at the foot of M o u n t Alexander, wending for miles towards Barker's Creek. They had been gold-hunting for a fortnight without success, and one day, opening a hole by chance, appearances were encouraging, and they persisted. O n e of the first spadefuls of earth showed golden indications, when they forthwith excavated an area of 12 feet by 8, and, washing the stuff, gold was obtained in abundance. B y this time the diggers were in a considerable migration from Ballarat, and stirred by the news the Lieutenant-Governor had started for the n e w region. H e returned on the 28th October, astounded by what he had seen of the success of the miners, and entertaining an opinion that the M o u n t Alexander gold district was more extensive than the Ballarat one. ​In November intelligence was received in the colony that the Australian gold discoveries had created a widespread and profound sensation in England, and that thousands of persons were preparing to emigrate to the Antipodes.
THE FIRST MELBOURNE GOLD CIRCULAR
Was issued by Messrs. Stubbs and Son, on 17th November, publishing the result of sales on the nth and 15th, of Ballarat and Mount Alexander gold, at rates from £"3 is. 7d. to £ 3 2%. id. per oz. Specimens, i.e.—(fold nuggets brought (1) £3 10s., and (2) £3 17s. per oz. It was now at length established beyond doubt that goldfields existed at Clunes, Buninyong, Ballarat, Mount Alexander, Mount Mercer on the Leigh, the W a n d y Yallock Gullies, Anderson's Creek, and that there were unmistakable indications of the coveted metal at the sources of the Barwon, Moorabool, Werribee, and Devil's Rivers, an area of some 10,000 square miles. O n the 19th November, the Government escort from Mount Alexander brought 6,846 ozs. and £ 3 5 4 5 in cash; whilst one from Ballarat conveyed 2117 ozs. to Melbourne, 619 ozs. to Geelong, making in one week in round numbers 10,000 ozs. gold, which at £ 3 per oz. represented £30,000. Of this quantity, 462 ozs. and ,£2,750 belonged to the Government as the proceeds of digging licenses. Three thousand persons had gone from Ballarat to Mount Alexander in a fortnight. The shine was beginning to be taken out of Ballarat by the superior richness and larger extent of the Mount Alexander district, and on the 29th November the former place was cast into the shade by the arrival of the Mount escort, with 11,424 ozs., leaving behind (as was said) 6000 ozs. to prevent the overloading of the conveyance. A s it was, it broke down twice on the road. The quantity brought by the Ballarat escort was 1745 ozs. or both 13,169 ozs. which at £3 would make ,£39,507. Such extraordinary yields induced a relapse of the yellow fever in Melbourne, and every one was again thinking of nothing else than a trip to the diggings, utterly regardless of previous disappointments. In fact the gold-bitten were so numerous that during the last five months of 1851, I m a y safely assert that not 50 males, between the ages of 15 and 60, remained in Melbourne and its neighbourhood without visiting either Ballarat or Mount Alexander. Happening to form one of the 50, the finger of scorn was often pointed after m e in the streets, and I was put down as a poor, spiritless, unplucky sort of creature, without the courage or energy to do as almost everyone else did. I managed, however, to bear all the taunts with resignation, and lived to laugh at many a returned " digger" who also lived to regret not having done as I had done. The Government was at its wits' end how to keep the public employes at their posts, for there was a general inclination towards wholesale desertion ; and after some shilly-shallying it was determined to raise the pay of several branches of the Public Service, to wit—the Customs Boatmen, from 3s. to 5 s.; Constables, 3 s. 3d. to 5 s. ; Messengers, 2s. 6d. to 4 s.; Turnkeys or Prison Warders, 4 s. to 5 s.; Mounted Troopers, 3 s. to 4 s.; Letter-carriers, 4 s. to 6s.; and Labourers, from 2 is. per week to 4 s. per diem. &c. T h e shipping of gold had commenced, and one of the first houses to do so was Dalgety and C o , who exported to England 6000 ozs. by the " Himalaya." O. Brown and Co. were the purchasers of £10,000 worth. A s lucky diggers flocked into town, the publicans commenced their harvesting. The nugget m e n were seized as with a mania for extravagances of the most reckless and farcial character. O n e of them, who was spreeing at the Imperial Hotel, in Collins Street, ordered a pair of gold stirrups to be manufactured. A m a d m a n at Geelong had his horses treated to golden shoes; and instances were known where ^5-note sandwiches were swallowed without disagreeing with the gourmands in w h o m such an abnormal and unpalatable appetite was engendered. I have heard it stated as a fact that once a bunch of merry-makers were having a night of it in a Bourke Street Tavern, when one of them, more fastidious in his longings than his mates, after mixing a jorum of strong rum punch, thrust in by way of a relish a £5-note, and after stirring it up with the sugar swallowed the pulp, protesting that nothing in the world agreed with him better than a costly drink. This was a clumsy, though no doubt an unconscious, travesty ​of the oft-told Cleopatra diamond dissolving. Another fool, addicted to skittle-playing, took it into his sapient noddle to employ bottles of champagne for nine-pins, and when one of them would be knocked, the fizzing and waste gave him immense satisfaction. But time brought its revenges for such wantonness, as a remarkable instance of which I saw one m a n w h o actually lighted his pipe with a £ 5 note begging about the streets in less than three years after, and I a m assured that the champagne skittler ended his days a pauper in the Melbourne Benevolent Asylum. Blackwood was the next locality from which gold-findings were announced. T h e escort on the 3rd December brought 16,333 ozs-i a n d three-fourths of a ton of gold was tendered to Mr. Commissioner Powlett, at M o u n t Alexander, but he declined receiving it until the next escort was ready. Outrages were n o w growing rife on the two great goldfields, and the Government manifested much vacillation in grappling with the evil. The following extract from a letter written by a solicitor's clerk at M o u n t Alexander, to his employer in Melbourne, was published in Melbourne on the 3rd D e c e m b e r : — " I saw yesterday a singular sight. Going along the bank of the creek I noticed a crowd of people apparently scrambling together, and when I got to them I found several hundreds tumbling about and over each other, tearing up the soil with their hands, picking up the nuggets, and placing them in their pockets for safety. U p o n enquiry I learned that a m a n was pitching his tent and saw the gold shining in the earth, and he began picking up the pieces, and others seeing what he was about rushed him as above." O n the n t h December, the M o u n t Alexander escort arrived with 23,650 ozs, and £4,385, Government money. T h e previous day the Ballarat escort fetched 222 ozs. ; as to the Mount, only one-third of the yield was reported to have been sent, and the value of gold raised daily there was estimated at from £15,000 to £ 18,000. T h e gold discoveries necessitated the appointment of a staff of Commissioners, and the following gentlemen were at various times between the 27th August and 28th November gazetted as such, viz, Messrs. F. C. Doveton, William Mair, John Fletcher, Benjamin Baxter, C. J. P. Lydiard, David Armstrong, and R. H . H o m e ; and on the 3rd October, the various Commissioners of Crown Lands were authorized to issue licenses to dig and search for gold in their respective districts generally. Further Regulations also were made, and instructions issued to meet unexpected emergencies as they might arise, of the most important of which a brief general precis is subjoined. O n the 14th October the Collector of Customs notified that as gold had been ascertained to be a natural product of the colony, the local Customs laws required on exportation that it should be entered Outwards the same as other Exports. During the same month the several Commissioners were directed to use every exertion to prevent seamen and other persons leaving hired service without their employers' permission, from obtaining gold-searching licenses; and any persons known or recognized to have been at a late date in the Public Service should not be allowed to hold a license, unless satisfactory proof was given that their leaving the Service had not only been authorized, but was unattended with embarrassment to the Government. Licenses were also not to be issued in any of the gold districts for the occupation of any ground, or disturbance of the soil in gold-searching within half a mile of every side of a homestead. T h e Commissioners of Crown Lands were instructed—ioth October—• in the event of finding any person working for gold on Crown lands without license, and ascertaining the quantity of gold (if any) so raised and sought to be removed, the unlicensed party should be required at once to pay a Royalty of ten pounds per centum upon such quantity; and in event of default the illegal occupier was to be removed, and steps were to be taken for the legal recovery of what was sought to be illegally appropriated. All trafficking in gold on the part of officers of every grade in Government employ on the goldfields was strictly prohibited. O n the 13th October an application was m a d e to Mr. Commissioner Doveton to grant a license for the erection of a printing press at Ballarat with a view to the publication of a newspaper there, and on its reference to head-quarters it was refused as " His Excellency does not feel himself justified at the present time in sanctioning any occupancy of Crown lands in the locality in question, which ​has not a direct reference either to the supply of the indispensable wants of the people congregated there, or their protection in the maintenance of good order." Sly-grog selling having spread at Ballarat, several of the offenders were convicted and fined by the Police Magistrate, whereupon an instruction was forwarded not to re-license any persons found directly or indirectly engaged in the sale or distribution of liquor, or in whose tent any scene of riot had occurred. THE FINDING OF THE SEVERAL FIELDS.
T o this day there is occasional controversy as to the particular period when thefirstgreat goldfields of Victoria were made known to the public, and it will consequently be not uninteresting to transcribe the following officially authorized statement of such remarkable facts :—
Locality.
Clunes Buninyong ... Ballarat Mount Alexander and its vicinity... Anderson's Creek ... Broken River and its vicinity
Date of Discovery.
Distance from Melbourne.
July 8, 1851 August 9, 1851 September 8, 1851... September 10, 1851 August 11, 1851 ... September 29, 1851
DOUBLING
100 75 75 80 16 94
miles miles miles miles miles miles
Date when first occupied under the sanction of the Government.
September 20, 1851 September 20, 1851 September 20, 1851 October 8, 1851 September 1, 1851 October 15, 1851*
T H E LICENSE FEE.
Hardly had the month of December put in its appearance, when an Executive bombshell fell amongst the digging communities with an explosion that scattered astonishment and indignation throughout the length and breadth of the auriferous regions. It assumed the form of an intimation that the month's license-fee for gold-digging would be doubled, i.e., increased from £^1 10s. to £3. The reasons which prompted the Government to take this rash step, will be gathered from the subjoined circular transmitted to the several Goldfields Commissioners:— Colonial Secretary's Office, Melbourne, 2nd December, 1851. S I R , — I have the honour, by direction of His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, to draw your attention to the notice which will appear in the Government Gazette of this date, raising the fees upon licenses to dig and search for gold to three pounds, and I a m to instruct you that this Regulation is to be strictly carried out from the first of next month ; and it will be proper that sufficient notice be given of this charge within your district, in order that persons m a y be prepared to pay it on renewing their licenses. His Excellency has deemed it expedient to direct this increase mainly upon two considerations: First, from the conviction that the existing fee is by no means consonant with justice to the revenue, w h e n the large amount of gold collected by those actually engaged in the pursuit is considered ; and, secondly, that it is desirable for the welfare of the colony generally to prevent, as far as practicable, the congregation of people at the goldfields who are not fully employed there. His Excellency would again impress upon you the necessity of ensuring the assistance of as many licensed persons of character in the district as possible, in the event of a breach of the peace at any time, by swearing in a considerable number of special constables. Y o u will also, from time to time, report to m e whether you consider it necessary to make any alteration in the Police Force placed under your orders.—I have, etc, W. LONSDALE.
In the Gazette referred to, the "New Regulations" (of date the 1st) were promulgated in the following terms :— 1. The licence-fee for one month, or the greater portion of a month, will be three pounds.
conclusions i ^ n X ' s a l p ^ i n t s ^ v e d a t ^ : C o f e S f of thf I ^ S b S " ? ' T " W " " ? * ^ ^ -the f T 8 ° i ¥ ^ " * *° r u> uic committee ot the Legislative Council appointed m 1853 to investigate the subject.—ED. ​2. A n y person w h o m a y arrive on the ground and apply for a licence on or after the 15th of any month will be charged half the above fee. 3. All persons at the goldfields w h o are in any manner connected with the search for gold, as tent-keepers, cooks, & c , will be required to take out a licence on the same terms as those w h o are engaged in digging for it. They were to take effect on and after the 1st January, 1852, and continue in force until cancelled. As was only to be expected, the most intense excitement was engendered, whose offspring was the disaffection which broke out in open rebellion at Ballarat in 1854. Indignation meetings were held, at one of which 14,000 persons were said to have attended, and after threats of not only defiance, but resistance, were uttered, without any reservation, they declared, on behalf of 30,000 diggers, that they would not pay the increased fee, no matter what might be the consequences. T h e fierce agitation bursting forth in all directions seems to have so stunned the Government, that it was as if panic-stricken. It wavered and floundered and hesitated, until the 13th December, when it was decided to withdraw the obnoxious fee augmentation ; yet this determination does not appear to have been officially published until the Gazette issue of the 24th, when it was at length formulated in the usual style, and in these terms :—Measures being n o w under the consideration of Government, which have for their object the substitution, as soon as circumstances permit, of other Regulations in lieu of those n o w in force, based upon the principle of a royalty leviable upon the amount actually raised, under which gold m a y be lawfully removed from its natural place of deposit : His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, hereby causes it be notified that n o alteration will for the present be m a d e in the amount of the License Fee as levied under the Government notice of the 16th August, 1851, and that the Government notice of the 1st inst. is hereby rescinded.
Even this concession did not calm the storm, which continued to rage with much fury. A deputation of miners arrived in town from M o u n t Alexander, to ask the co-operation of the sympathizers in town ; and on the 29th December a mass meeting was held on the Flagstaff Hill, to receive and deal with a report of grievances from the miners of the Mount. Dr. Webb-Richmond was vociferously voted to the chair, which he promptly assumed by mounting a pile of wood close by, and from this he denounced with bitter indignation the uncalled-for tyranny of the Government. T h e principal other spokesmen were Messrs. J. A. Marsden, Henry Lineham, and Captain Harrison, w h o did not mince their words, but inveighed forcibly against the "monstrous" injustice about to be inflicted upon an enterprising and industrious body of colonists. Others with weaker lungs and of less note followed suit, and resolutions were passed :—(1) T o pay no licence-fee or impost on gold until the licence question was finally adjusted; (2) Denouncing the arbitrary action of Commissioner Fletcher for seizing some gold belonging to diggers; and (3) T h e adoption of a Petition to the Legislative Council against a projected Vagrant Act, the voting of pay for additional soldiers, and the importation of V a n Diemen's Land pensioners to do duty as constables. It is essential to the intelligibility of this gathering that I should offer some explanation of certain facts not previously referred to. Every soldier, and everyone that could be obtained available as a trooper or a constable was drafted off to the goldfields for the preservation of peace and property. T h e diggers, as a whole, were well affected and well behaved, but by this time there was necessarily a large admixture of the rascaldom of the period, worked up with the general population at the goldfields. Those scoundrels loafed and swindled and robbed whenever they found a chance—they were so many h u m a n beasts of prey, prowling and hungering about, flitting from place to place, and it required the exercise of m u c h vigilance and activity to guard against their depredations. T h e diggers had often to look after themselves, and they frequently did so with salutary effect, and the application of a dose of lynch law. But the Commissioners and their myrmidons had other work to do, and this they often did with a harshness that could not be palliated. In hunting up unlicensed diggers, and in their official intercourse with those w h o were licensed, ebullitions of temper were often indulged in, and even illegalities committed which could in no fairness be excused; and when satisfaction was sought from the higher powers, the appeal was in ​most instances treated with a contemptuous indifference. Sufficient allowance will never be made for the extraordinary and totally unexpected difficulties by which the Executive was confronted, in endeavouring, in a state of extreme unpreparedness, to cope with such a sudden economic revolution as was caused by the gold discoveries; but after according the utmost latitude in such circumstances, it cannot be denied that the early administration of the goldfields was characterized by an alternating tergiversation and impulsiveness which showed a marked absence of that coolness and steadied sagacity of which the colony stood so m u c h in need in this daily augmenting crisis. After proclaiming the increased license-fee, the ruling powers hovered and halted, as if fearing to advance, and failing in the moral courage to decently retreat, such indecision only intensified the blaze of discontent raging in every quarter. In a m o m e n t of ill-advised precipitancy a Bill was introduced to the Legislative Council (which c o m m e n c e d its maiden session in November) vagabondizing as " idle and disorderly persons," (and as such punishing) all diggers found working without a license. This so capped the climax of the almost universal exasperation, that the Government, in a paroxysm of pusillanimous imbecility, withdrew the obnoxious measure. A s to the proposition to increase the military forces, and subsidize V a n Diemen's Land pensioners as temporary policemen, no person cognizant of the abnormal condition in which the community was placed, and fairly looking the difficulties in the face, could justly censure the adoption of such a course. DOING THE DOCTOR.
As the " cure of diggers' souls" was provided for by the accession of clergymen to the goldfields, it was only reasonable to suppose that the cure of their bodies would not be neglected, and accordingly the corporeal, like the spiritual physicians, did not remain behind. T h e lancet, tourniquet, and stomach p u m p were accordingly efficiently represented, and amongst the yEsculapians w h o established themselves at M o u n t Alexander, were two popular surgeons trading, or rather practising, under the style and title of " T h o m a s and Barker," the latter being the well-known Dr. Edward Barker, still resident in Melbourne. Their surgery was a comfortable canvas tent, with its doorway surmounted by an orthodox sign-board, and hither flocked both patients and nuggets, as to amply reward the skill of the proprietors. Dr. Barker was one day s u m m o n e d by a sick call to some neighbouring gully, and as it was an urgent case, away he went, locking up the tent in the care of itself. O n his round he looked in, in a friendly way, upon the Commissioner ("Jack Fletcher"), and whilst so engaged, some unauthorized individuals were fraternizing in a very different manner in another place; for on the doctor returning to his homestead, he found it in a state of topsy-turvy, the place gutted of everything convertible, and not only ,£200 worth of gold abstracted, but his instruments, drugs, and wearing apparel gone too. In fact the concern had been regularly phlebotomized, and to add insult to injury, the sign-board was reversed, and chalked with the ominous legend "Barker's Occupation is Gone." T h e doctor did not swallow his drastic dose kindly, for he cut up wrathfully, and by instruction to his Melbourne solicitor (Mr. Clarke) offered £"ioo reward for information concerning the marauders, but no effectual response was ever vouchsafed.
THE STATE OF MELBOURNE.
The outlook in town was not of the pleasantest kind, though Christmas-tide was coming. Out of fifty m e n composing the police force only eleven remained staunch, though Police Superintendent Sturt had returned from his " orange-blossom " excursion, and was busily engaged in endeavouring to secure new hands for ordinary town duty, and the constitution of a special mounted patrol for street and suburban service. Almost all the Government employts had given "notice to quit," and salaries, where not exceeding £ 2 5 0 per annum, were increasedfiftyper cent. T h e state of affairs induced m u c h alarm, for there were no adequate means for the conservation of life and property. O n the 15th December a private meeting of the City Council was held to consider the situation, when it was decided that the several Aldermen should convene Ward-motes, with a view of ascertaining h o w far the male adult citizens were disposed to co-operate ​by doing duty pro aris et foci's as a volunteer protective force. S o m e of the gatherings came off, whereat prevailed a concensus of opinion that it was the bounden duty of the Government to provide sufficient protection for the community. T h e diggers, glutted with gold, came rolling into town, their number considerably swelled by a dearth of water on the goldfields. Nuggets were in abundance, and cash was consequently not scarce, so far as the public-house traffic was concerned. Little Bourke Street was in a perfect state of jubilation, and the dens of immorality there and in other parts reaped a golden harvest. Drunken diggers staggering about in all directions both in daylight and dark, were picked up by the harpy harlotry of the period, not knocked down or garroted, but coaxed off to haunts of infamy, plundered during the night, and sent forth penniless in the morning. Singular, too, so far as open nocturnal street outrages were concerned, there were never fewer at any Christmas times for years, and this was accounted for by the fact that the most practised thieves were away on circuit, doing such good business at the several goldfields, or on the main roads leading thereto, as to be unwilling to abandon their lucrative pilferings for what they considered might be a more precarious chance in town. But here they miscalculated, and the grave error was not repeated at any Christmas ever after. The last escort for the year arrived from M o u n t Alexander on 31st December with 10,598 ozs, and only 36 ozs. were received in town from Ballarat, the escort from which place was to be discontinued. It is difficult, from the desultory and round-about manner in which the various discoveries of the early goldfields were communicated to the Melbourne newspapers, to trace with absolute certainty, from their perusal, the precise dates of such remarkable events. However, on the 12th October, 1853, the Legislative Council of Victoria appointed a Select Committee consisting of the following members, viz.:—Dr. Greeves (Chairman), Messrs. William and Mark Nicholson, J. F. Strachan, John Hodgson, H . E. Childers, and James Graham " to consider the propriety of requesting His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor to take such steps as m a y enable the Council to mark in a substantial manner their high appreciation of the services rendered by Mr. E. H . Hargreaves to this colony by the discovery of goldfields in the continent of Australia; and also what other persons are entitled to reward for the discovery of the Victorian goldfields." Several witnesses were examined, and m u c h light was shed upon the subject. T h e report of the Committee was ordered to be printed — i o t h March, 1854, and from it are compressed these facts :—In March, 1850, M r . William Campbell, of Strath Loddon, discovered, on the station of Mr. Donald Cameron, of Clunes, in company with that gentleman and two other friends, several minute pieces of native gold in quartz. T h e circumstance was avowedly concealed at the time, from an apprehension that its announcement would prove injurious to Cameron's run. Observing, however, the migration of the population to N e w South Wales, and the panic created throughout the whole colony, and especially in Melbourne, on the ioth June, 1851, M r . Campbell addressed a letter to Mr. James Graham, of Melbourne, stating "that within a radius offifteenmiles of Burnbank, on another party's station, he had procured specimens of gold." Mr. L. J. Michel, with Messrs. W m . Habberlin, James Furnival, James Melville, James H e a d o n and B. Greenig, discovered the existence of gold in the quartz rocks of the Yarra Ranges, at Anderson's Creek, in the latter part of June, and showed it on the spot to Dr. Webb-Richmond, on behalf of the Gold Discovery Committee, on the 5th July, 1851. Full particulars of the locality were communicated to the Lieutenant-Governor on the 8th, and on the 16th a sample of gold, procured by washing the alluvial soil in the same neighbourhood, was exhibited to the Gold Discovery Committee. About the same time Mr. James Esmonds, with Messrs. Pugh, Burn and Kelly, obtained gold in the quartz rocks of the Pyrenees, near Mr. Cameron's station. This was exhibited by Esmonds at Geelong on the 5th July, and the precise locality indicated on the 22nd. In June, 1882, an interesting discussion was maintained in the correspondence columns of the Argus, upon the early gold discoveries in Port Phillip, and to some of the contributors I a m indebted for several of the facts n o w detailed. Mr. J. T. Osmond, of St. Kilda, .who, m a n y years ago, kept a grocery establishment in Little Flinders Street, at the rear of the present Union Bank, stated that he knew " G u m , the Gold-finder," who, in 1847, called at his shop and purchased £ 2 0 worth of goods there, paid for, as was believed, from the proceeds of gold-finding. M r . O s m o n d also averred that ccc ​the same year two settlers named M ' N a b and O'Niel, from Burnbank, customers of his, called and settled an overdue account, when M ' N a b said that one of his m e n had picked up a gold nugget in a gully. T h e m a n so referred to, looked in some time after, and informed O s m o n d that M ' N a b had left for England, and carried away a quantity of gold. M r . George Wharton, an old Melbourne architect of unimpeachable testimony, declared that he was well acquainted with Mr. T. J. Thomas, who in days of yore, kept a jeweller's shop where the Commercial Bank n o w stands in Collins Street and that bushmen occasionally called there with exhibits of mica, and samples of gold, in which but little interest was taken beyond regarding them as curiosities. A n individual known as " Old Yorky," used to say that he was positive there was gold to be got at the Plenty, but no account was taken of his sayings. F r o m a lengthy and interesting communication supplied by Mr. J. W o o d Beilby, an old and enterprising colonist, I extract the following with reference to an alleged early gold discovery:— " T h e discoverer's n a m e was William Rickfould, a shepherd or hut-keeper in the employ of the late W . J. T. Clarke, at Heifer Station Creek, north of the Pyrenees. I found him on the site of his discovery there early in 1845, but some years elapsed before circumstances induced him, while subsequently in m y employment, to confide his discovery to m e . H e then reminded m e of our first meeting, described the locality of his discovery minutely, and referred m e to Mr. Stephen Henty and Messrs. Purbrick and Tulloh, all of Portland, as having sold gold for him in Tasmania. Mr. Henty, on m y inquiry afterwards, fully bore out Rickfould's statement, but he understood the gold to be the produce of Africa, and brought here by a sailor. H a d he known the gold to be Victorian I do not believe he would have bought or sold it. Even to date of 22nd May, 1851, persons digging in search of gold or removing it were declared 'liable to be prosecuted civilly and criminally' by special proclamation of His Excellency Sir Charles Fitzroy. T h e discoverer (William Rickfould) bound m e to secrecy until his death, which he then shortly expected, and which I understood took place before I divulged the fact. I arrived in the colony in 1841, continuously resided in Melbourne, joined the Press in February, 1845, and never heard anything of the facts as stated, though for obvious reasons there was no doubt a strong motive for the concealment of any bond-fide gold-finding. T h e first intimation on the subject that I can discover in the old newspapers is a false alarm, when in August, 1845, Mr. David Howie, a resident on King's Island, picked up amongst the rocks there a few metallic lumps the size of a pigeon's egg. Thinking they were gold he hastened with his treasure to Melbourne, where the ' eggs' were ascertained to be iron ore, and the finder was laughed at, and returned h o m e sadly disappointed." Dr. George H . Bruhn, a German physician, previously mentioned, in January, 1851 (before Hargreaves' discovery at S u m m e r Hill), started from Melbourne to explore the mineral resources of this colony; and in April he found indications of gold in quartz near M r . Parker's station, and, on arriving at Cameron's station, was shown specimens of gold found at what were subsequently known as the "Clunes" diggings. This information he promulgated through the country, and mentioned to Esmonds, at the time engaged in erecting a building at Mr. James Hodgkinson's station. Dr. Bruhn forwarded specimens, which were received by the Gold Discovery Committee on the 30th June, 1851. T h e localities of Campbell and Michel's discoveries were divulged on the 5th, and of Esmonds' not until the 22nd July. Michel and party were adjudged to have "clearly established their claim as the first publishers of the discovery of a goldfield in Victoria." Licenses to digforgold there were issued on the 1st September, previous to their issue upon any other goldfield, and about 300 persons were at work when Ballarat was discovered. Mr. T h o m a s Hiscock found gold at Buninyong on the 8th August, a fact publicly notified on the ioth. Th.s discovery of Hiscock, by attracting large numbers of diggers to the neighbourhood, was the cause of the discovery of Ballarat diggings, which are upon the same range as Buninyong, at six or seven miles distance. T h e discovery of the "Golden Point" at Ballarat was claimed by two parties, both of whom went first to Hiscock s diggings, and then extended their searches, one on one side, the other on the other side of that grand focus of attraction. Where so m a n y rich deposits were discovered, almost simultaneously, within a radius of little more than half-a-mile, it was difficult to decide to w h o m was ​due the actual commencement of the Ballarat diggings. It was, however, clear that Brown and his party were working, during thefirstdays of September, on one side, and Messrs. Regan and Dunlop on the other side of the range forming " Golden Point." But it must be observed that these and the numerous other parties, w h o by this time were searching the whole country for gold, had been attracted there In fact, in the language of one of the witnesses by the discoveries of Esmonds and Hiscock. (Mr. Alfred Clarke, of Geelong), "the discovery of Ballarat was but a natural consequence of the discovery of Buninyong." T h e honour of first finding gold at M o u n t Alexander is assigned to Christopher T h o m a s Peters, then a hut-keeper at Barker's Creek, in the service of Mr. William Barker, on the 20th July, at Specimen Gully. H e had associated with him John Worley, George Robinson, and Robert Keen, fellow-servants, and they worked in secret until the 14th September, when, becoming alarmed at their unauthorized doings, Worley, " to prevent them getting into trouble," published in one of the Melbourne journals, Tlie Argus, an announcement of the precise situation of their workings. With this obscure notice, rendered still more so by the locality being described as at " Western Port," were ushered to the world the inexhaustible treasures of M o u n t Alexander. The Committee recommended that the s u m of £^5000 should be presented to Mr. Hargreaves; and £ 1 0 0 0 awarded to the Rev. W . Clarke, of Sydney; and proceeded thus:—"It will be seen that on the ioth June, M r . Campbell communicated the general fact of his having discovered gold in the Pyrenees district to M r . Graham, but, that it was not till the 5th July, that this fact, together with the exact locality, was m a d e known by the former, in a letter of that date addressed to the latter. O n the same day (5th July) M r . Michel actually showed the locality of his discovery to Dr. Webb-Richmond, as a m e m b e r of the Gold Discovery Committee. T h e Clunes discovery was also m a d e known at Geelong, by Mr. Esmonds on the same day ; and the information of it was generally diffused by Dr. Bruhn in his tour through the interior. Mr. Hiscock's discovery, though later in date, was of so superior a value, since it at once led to revealing the treasures of Ballarat, and the turning the tide of popular migration to our o w n borders, that your Committee consider him entitled to be placed in the foremost rank of our gold discoverers." The Committee agreed to recommend, "That to M r . Michel and his party as having, at considerable expense, succeeded in discovering and publishing an available goldfield, the sum of £ 1 0 0 0 should be given; to Mr. Hiscock, as the substantial discoverer of the Ballarat deposits, a like sum of £ 1 0 0 0 ; to Mr. Campbell, as without doubt the original discoverer of the Clunes, a like sum of £ 1 0 0 0 ; to Mr. Esmonds, as the first actual producer of alluvial gold for the market, a like sum of £ 1 0 0 0 ; and to Dr. Bruhn, as an acknowledgment of his services in exploring the country, and diffusing the information of the discovery of gold, the s u m of £ 5 0 0 . " The Report concludes by recording an opinion which has been amply verified by the progress of events from 1854 to 1885, viz. : — " T h e discovery of the Victorian Goldfields has converted a remote dependency into a country of world-wide fame; it has attracted a population, extraordinary in number, with unprecedented rapidity; it has enhanced the value of property to an enormous extent; it has made this the richest country in the world; and, in less than three years, it has done for this colony the work of an age, and m a d e its impulses felt in the most distant regions of the earth." At the end of 1851 the population had increased to 97,489 souls, a number swelled during 1852 to 168,321, and in 1853, to 222,436. In 1851 the quantity of gold raised was 145,137 ozs.; in 1852, 2,738,484 ozs.; and in 1853, 3,150,021 ozs. O n the 31st December, 1884, the population of Victoria numbered 959,836 persons, and the total gold extracted from Victorian soil from 1851 to same date realized, so far as can be ascertained, the enormous yield of fifty-two millions, nine hundred and eight-eight thousand, four hundred and eighty (52,988,480) ounces, which, at £ ; 4 per ounce, represents the almost incredible sum of two hundred and eleven millions, nine hundred andfifty-threethousand, nine hundred and twenty (£"211,953,920) pounds sterling! ccc 2