The Express.
London, England, 1852-06-17 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, THURSDAY EVENING, JUNE 17, 1852.

THE
AUSTRALIAN GOLD FIELDS.

LECTURE AT THE SOCIETY OF ARTS.
Yesterday evening the inlet crowded meeting, ever
wen within the wells of the Society of Arts esseinhled to
heag Mr. Shilling, a ichtleman recently returned trues the
Austrslian until fields, read • paper descriptive of the
" diegiiiire." their g. ological features, present position, mud
• future prospects. Some specimens of quarto and .. mug-
gees," provided by the kind attention of rof,lour 'remnant,
wei• exhibited, but so great was the crowd that only a few
in the immediate neighbourhood of the Lithe could gratify
their curiosity by an inspection.
The chair having been taken by Mr. WINCYWOUTII,
Mr. StilLt.ino read the following paper:
" The Australian cordillera run in a line with the coast,
and at an average distance of less than one hundred mill.
from the shore. Inland the waters are all tributaries of the
Darling and Murrurnbidgee, which unit* to form the
Murray, falling into the sea near Adelaide. field has been
found on both sides of these cordillera, and chiefly, as we shall
see, in the smaller streams and bends of the rivers; but the
basin of the Murray may be said to constitute the Austra-
lian gold field. It is well known that the geological
character of these ranges is the same as that of the Sierra
Nevada of California and Ural mountains of Russia. And
in Australis, as in these countries, by far the largest supply
of gold has been procured from the bunks and lads of rivers
flowing through the accumulated masses of debris, either
torn from the mountain sides by some convulsion of nature,
or brought down by the floods of past ages. Even al-
though • hundredweight has been found in the matrix
at one spot, it would be assuming more than we have soy
foundotinn fee doing, to say that gold may anywhere be
found concentrated in large quantities; every circumstance
rather tends to prove that it has existed but rarely in
moues, or at any rate that these have bees so broken up in
the course of ages, and disseminated amungat the debrie of
mountains, that it is now almost hopeless to search after
matrix gold. The very outliue of tUee hills and moun-
tains, almost without exception rounded, and with preci-
pices of any magnitude, but seldom showing themselves,
would make it probable that their surface irregularities ,
have beets caused by detritus, so as to give this peculiar
character to the scenery, the only distinguishing feature
that the gold field perhaps possesses. Imagine a number
of enormous haycocks, Gum .5 to 1,500 feet high, packed as
close together as impenetrable substances of such a shape
could be generally crammed, in ranges, hut sometimes
isolated; their steep slopes covered to the summit
with the thin evergrs en, or rather ever-brown, bush
of Australia, and you will have a very fair idea of the gene-
fel appearance of the gold di.tricts. Its other feature. are
such as are common to mountainous countries with the
limpid stream winding down the deep valley between the
projecting spurs, or noisy torrent rushing impetuously down
the adjeming gulley. Moat of the rivers, however, deserve
the uncle only after heavy rains •' at other times they are
little better than a succession of water holes, united, per-
haps, by • streamlet which often, indeed, seems to find its
way with difficulty from one hole to another; yet preci-
pices, formed by the tearing away of steep banks, show not
unfrequently the force with which their swollen waters
must at times have rolled. In New South Wales, the
range takes the name of Blue Mountains, which in the
early days of the colony opposed a formidable barrier to its
extension. Many attempts had been made to cruse them
in vain ; but the drought of 1813 led to another attempt
on the part of three gentlemen, of whom Mr. Weut-
worth was one ; it was completely successful, and resulted
in the opening of the Bathurst district, taking its name
from the town then founded, to which • road was at once
commenced. This road has been since improved by Sir T.
Mitchell, sod is not the least among the triumphs of en-
gineering skill. This barrier thus removed, nothing has
since stopped the progress of the settler its his search for
new pastures, and the consequence is that about two-thirds
of the small population of 200,000 are very thinly scattered
over au enormous territory: the other one-third are town
population. The choicest valleys in the mountains have
thus become occupied by sheep stations or small settlers,
and fur year. the gold-bearing stream has Leen used for
domestic purpmcs, and the soil tilled without gold having
been discovered. This may at first excite surprise but it
must be remembered that gold is so sparingly and
minutely disseminated throughout the soil that it is
only in the process of washing that it reveals itself.
There is scarcely more appearance of it on the sur-
face than on that of Wimbledon-common or Putney-heath.
Indeed, as Mr. Hargreaves, the discoverer, wrote from Cali-
lornia, to his brother, when he says, "I am very forcibly
impressed that I have been in a gold region in tic* South
Wales' within 300 miles of Sydney: uuless you know how
to find it you might live fur a century in the region and
know nothing of its existence." This was dated March 5, I
18.10, and perhaps originated a rumour which circulated in
the newspapers long previous to the discovery ; but years
before several eminent geologists, especially Sir it. Mur-
chison and the Rev. Mr. Clarke, had predicted the existence
of gold. Mr. Clarke, indeed, professes that he could have
found it, but would not, as it was inexpedient, the colony
being • convict ono. A shepherd bad even been known to
have sold gold in considerable quantities in Sydney, but
he kept his secret in spite of the geologists, and
not until the new Ophir was Proclaimed in May
last year, was the mystery of his wealsh revealed.
The locality thus name"' by Mr. Hargreaves is a deep
ravine, through which flows the Sumnserhill Creek, from
the lofty Canons's, between 4,000 and 6,000 feet high. So
deep is the ravine, that the diggers enjoy very little of the
sun. Ott one side it is bounded by rocks of quartz and
schist, in some places almost perpendicular. The excite.
ment caused by the discovery, es you may readily imagine,
was very great, and the mail was besieged by crowds, who
had waited with impatience for confirmatory accounts.
These had no sooner arrived than an almost instentaneou-
change took place in the aspect of things, and it was im-
possible to stir out in the streets or walk along the high
road without perceiving the alteration. Cradles and dig-
ging paraphernalia intruding upon the pathway, halt
finished houses deserted by the workmen, and a large pro-
portion of the shops closed, gave a new and melancholy
appearance to the streets. The reed would have furnished
to a Dickens matter for many • page ; for more motley
crowds or stranger outfits than those of the hundreds who
joined in the first rush to the minas could geared, be con-
ceived. At the same time, provisions, and especially flour,
roes to hitherto unheard-of prices. The 310. loaf, previ-
ously 3d., became as mach as 941. at Sydney ; and
flour at Ophir was scarcely to be had for money.
131. • ton was even advertised to take it there, 160 miles.
The necessity of taking provisions with them acted as a
cheek upon the number of diggers, still it is estimated that
while, during the first ten days, there were 400 at Ophir,
these had increased in another fortnight to 2,000, with
hundreds still on the road. The space within which they
had to work was limited, and they were bat badly pro-
vided for the winter, which, in the mountains, is rialto an-
other thing to what it is at Sydney. During June and
July almost ea many were to be seen returning from the
mines as had before been going there, and mostly in very
sorry plight. The severe seasoe,beenr rains, and perhaps
in part the extravagant hopes formed, sure to be disap-
pointed, because extravagant, will mount for this reverse.
Hopeful they had lessened the difficulties, thought nothing
of the labour, and magnified the profits; and when they
found it all so dialogue, returned in disgust; such, at least.
was the case with =ay of the Sydney adventurers. The
enesquence was that the diggings became the best place to
hire labourers and the cheapest place to live, ha leer and
previsions had been tent up to supply "'papeled*. whichhad vanished. As imam, of this re-action I msy 'ratios
one ease, In which a pasty was to receive 401. hr
up stens which were aboorards taken in part payment=
than herreght down maim to the ports in search of a better
marks& This reverse pews • lesson to many in the colony,
sad , I iesftgiMs to those government clerks who
had IMO going to the mines because they
had been glees he imilestnei that none who left their
alosintnessea weuki have them again. And it may well in-
diums these alMst to leave thhewantry to consider their own
grass, holm they madly eacounter di/Unities—nothing,
es navvi and strong men, but insurmountable
le
to
uitary sad weak. But many (libelee who thee
returned only waited till the winter should be over, whoa
they woe resolved to try again : in fact, the 'gold fever, et
it may well be called, is intermittent in its action, aad ono
g by it, though disappointed again and again, in mast
Nees the disease remains, and the unhappy patient, discon-
tented wed unsettled, dreads nothing so much as went of
the mean to try hie hick ewe more. Meanwhile, this re-
meths enabled the sheep owner* to get in list year's
clip, as it was some unsthe before the &accosts from
the Tarn, where the next discovery, explored by
diggers hem Opkir re-attracted the advent. In
New Neva Weise the Tuna have hitherto been the
ratalialilljegas end es Rainy a 520,000 are estimated to
here bow asae tine. The township of &Ala has
hese headed with be earth, sad at the end of the year
tel,reoe4while Muse had halebeamed, ea* of which on its
o deg, I heard, leek NW. Saida is about 3o miles
from HOOwiel. nod Illthrough thane frees Ophir. The hills
are set se Iraq, bus the doer at doss deserves the name.
The beim* is ihr the sod pert sehistess, and is reached
after riskily
_lhreugh a red day, a Met of clay and lob
bliss baud Med together • suadleast below this there is a
red ausielems, er rather :sad bard se bred as to resemble
a zesty slid dm another layer of herd bake. Sometimes
the Weer ems to strata of • and pipeclay is
eemeas in sans of the river ' There are other
claim sa the top of the hills for himbe, sad the labour of
carrying the auriferous earth to the slessun is very great,
but several carts were employed is dales thin at ls, s load,
and one cradle can take four wee per day. These
dry diggings, of course, have the advantage of never being
flooded, which, in s wet season like the winter of last year,
is a very great one indeed; but there is much more un-
certainty ia them than in these la the creek and river
beds, whore esperkess mid attains NM enable
a mesa to doses • glass with nos degree of certainty.
Here the goad le deposited lo detain dame having peculiar
feature' same ported
this In others. Banks with a
gentle shape Mem ridge severed with the detritus of the
earlareas redo, shed dire bum In the einem, and rocks
in its had lying with ughtemed edges, and crevices forming
receptacles or pockets Or dor., are pretty sure indica-
tions that gold in &bumble's to be got, and the greatest
deport ars likely to lis hand at the turn of the stress& on
and near thitirpeens
dqui, bo, in the dry itigginp,
there is little to Ile ; le by so idea until he
bar &awa NA deg a to the hod reek what his
fortune is likely te he. end the depth le whish be has to dig
varies from 6lt. tea*, sad 0,11•1111110. Alter passing through
the loose top soil and red day he fuses to the mixture of
red gnarly earth, in which are bedded gravel and pebbles.
The petinles increase in sine as he gets nearer to bed rock,
where he finds boulders a 1001 be. and upwards in weight,
evidently worn by the attrition of water through centuries.
At this depth the soil is white and clayey. The mixture of

earth and pebbles Y extremely hard, and picks worked on
it require to be pointed very often. After working
down through this to bed rock, the gold dig-
ger may be rewa►ded handsomely, end he may, un
the other hand, have thrown all his ;about. away.
Some Mal holes, Id or mure lei t det p, yield barely a quarter
of an ounce a day during washing, node others not half
the depth may yield from .5 to 10 ounces. (Lacey Creed is
the richest of those falling into the Turon, and immense boles,
pile• cf rubbish, heaps of Icbbhr, and cradle tabling.,
showed even last November that it had been will 0,11,1i/rid.
A smaller meek of the same name, si•psrateil front it by a
dividing ridge, is also exceedingly rich. About two miles
up it the banks le come very precipitous roil Pined, end
there is a tall ut about 1.5 tact. Abure the tall at is a lucre

lwater-course over table land occupied s;as.beeP-s71;;;;L:
The women even at the sheep st tien took knives and pint
puts, and gathered the gold train the ,revives of the reeks,
hut the scarcity of water prevented any extensive cradling.
Whet must have been thu sensations of the people at the
sheep station at seeing so much gold dug out ut the spot
where they have been for years in the habit of filling their
tea-kettle ? The rocks about both these creeks are schist
and quartz, and appear to be much worn, the tops and
side of thu ridges being cover's' with their detritus. Where
exposed to the weather, the schist is of a grey and of a red
colour, but in the best of the creek it is
often blue and green, and has a polishid appearance. Quarts
veins traverse it iu a north and south direction.
The prices on the best claims on the Turon will afford some
Glue as to its richness. The best one was sold ter Mt and
the purchaser allowed two days trial, in which lie got 1601.
towards the purchase money. The bed ruck was nine feet
from the surface, and very uneveii, jutting upwards iu
musts, forming huge pockets for holding the precious
metal. Another claim, sold tor 7001., did not repay the
purchaser, though lifts, were found one day and rilln.
the next. One party, called rangers, procured 1,0001. worth
in four or hue weeks ; bat, says the correspondent of the
Pa r,
the enumeration of such remarkable successes can
only
have a prejudical effect in giving a false notion of the
general success of the miners; for tesides the rich gulden
Point, Sheep Station Point, and It itin Mil, there is
a Pennyweight hill, a city of rs time to those who fled to it
from utter want. 1 u expect mire than a bare subsistence
was out of the question, and yet to see them toiling
at their miserable task, delving away like mad, carrying
huge bags of soil to be washed, and the whole
hill like an ant hill with bustle and hurry moving
with active life, you would fairy they were making
their fortune, and almost km skint their no cks to make it 600 R.
Au an instance of the Hoods with which these retention-
ous districts are sometimes visited, I will read a description
ut one which occurred in Oak, y Creek iu the middle of De-
cember. It is supposed to have been caused by the break-
ing of a water spout during a thundi r storm, fur the prodi-
gious volume of water which in lees than au hour from the

commencement of the storm, poured its de vsetatLigdzi
dowu the creeks, could searcele owe its rise even to the
heaviest fall of rain. A loud roar, like a coming corm of
wind, was the only warning, and belore the miners had
time to think, the moving mass of waters was upon them ;
cradles and other impli menu were swept away to destruc-
tion ; holes and excavations filled up, end heaps of useless
earth thrown up by miners were levelled down, burying
what tools were nut carried away, and restoring some-
what the former appearance of the creeks before they
were disturbed by the pursuit of gold. Miners barely escaped I
with life, and there were one or two fatal accidents. '
After the flood, the waters of which subsided almost u
quickly as they rose, the banks of the creek, especially
about the highest water mark, were thinly sprinkled with
gold, which the miners quickly gathered; one nugget of I
one os. was picked up. The digettegs of New South Wales,
next in importance to the Turon, were, 1 think, Braidwood
or Aralvcn digging', in the county of St. Vincent. The
correspondent of the Empire, Dec. 10, say., I was astounded
at the busy scene ; the entire bed had been rooted up from
20 to 25 feet, and in each excavation from 6 to 10 men were
engaged in dislodging the auriferous soil, and conveying it
to the cradles near the water course for the purpose ot se-
parating the geld from the ditritus. The Major'. Creek
(which had proved the richest) is,proeerly a swamp, covered
in must places with lung silky grass in tussock-. The sur-
face soil is black and rich in the extreme, suitable for garden
ground. This rum to the depth eat from b to b feet, under
which is • stratum of decomposed granite, the richest
veins are blue and green, and passing through these
• mass of solid rock or boulder" of considerable
ego are found beneath; the adjacent hills arc gra-
nite and auriferous ;to a greater or less extent'
Some thirty miles to the north of the Turon is the Naroo,
a creek, or river, in the county of Wellington, flowing into
the Cudgegong : it has never been so well tried as either
of the others; and, being on a much larger scale, affords
room fur thousands. Gold is here found in surface earth,
A n black and red gravel ; and under the gravel, in blue clay,
V which is generally considered the must promising, as it re-
tains the gold : in fact, gold can scarcely be looked for in
gravel, as the gravel, so easily disintegrated, will have
allowed the heavy metal to fall through to the bed of the
stream; bat the clay is perhaps never thoroughly disinte-
grated, and the masses, when deposited, have still gold dis-
seminated throughout them; but this clay is very bad to
work in the cradle. Not unfrequently it rolls up in balls
about the sire of pills, and carries the gold with it, as it
clings so tenaciously to the crevice. of the larger stones that
no ordinary amount of rocking will separate it from them,
and the stones may be thus thrown away with no inconsi-
derable quantity of the dust elingino to the sides. The day
should perhaps be steeped in a trough, or better still, dealt
with; in some kind of a puddling. The Louisa Creek, so
Warns on account of the cut, is a tributary of the Naroo ;
but here the diggings are on a table land some distance
from the stream. The history of the cut is, I presume, too
well known for me to repeat. I will only mention that,
while staying at the commissioner's, I saw several times the
black who pointed it out to Dr. Kerr, and having squandered
his reward, he was cutting bark for the barracks at 4d. a sheet.
Another magnificent nugget, valued at, I believe, 1,3001.,
was found some months after by Brenun's party, and ass-
'era' smaller ones since. A company is now working a
half-acre claim in this locality, so that the diggers have been
driven from the choicest part. Their average get up to the
time of my leaving was 10 oz. a day, with 30 men employed, I
who received 21.5.. wages and rations. This is much above
the average of the previous diggers, showing the great ad-
vantage of system. I had the pleasure of dining with the
company on Christmas-day off rout beef and plum pudding,
the thermometer being 100 deg. in the share. About ~d
miles from Bathurst are the Abercrombie diggings. The
river may be described as the Turon on a grand seek, the
mountains loftier, creeks and gullies deeper, and river •
more important stream. Its geological features are pre-
cisely similar, consisting of slate, alternating with trap and
porphyry, and that peculiar gravel deposit under which
such abundance of gold has been discovered at the Turon
is to be seen cropping out at many points on the river ; but
the work at the Abercrombie is mere hen-scratching com-
pared to the Herculean labours at the Turco. But it would
be tedious and impossible to go through the
long list of diggings, and the probability is that
in the out-of-the-way valleys and gullies there are
yet other generally unknown ones where many
a digger may be rocking his cradle and saving his license
fee. The ones I have mentioned are the chief in New
South Wales. Ot Victoria I can only speak from report.
The first account of its gold fields which reached New South
Wales were quite unwarranted by facts, so that for some
time all Victoria gold sews was received with discredit. It
has since, however, been ineontestibly shown that their
mines are the richest : they are nearer, too, to the capita,
wheel la part accounts kr the greater yield, as it was
shoat drained of its gegialation, while Sydney was at no
lime perhaps MOM all• decimated. Buninyong was the
int discovered. It h sheet 40 sides from Geelong, and is
dadeibed es on the edge etas open forest in the midst of a
=t agricultural solantry. A pretty valley, clothed
Mr on eithe4 with a verdant meadow spread
eel at the bottom, which ripples a stream limpid
prabablitil the awe gold gave tt a colour and con-
eigtoway more resembling pea-soup. On one aide a little
resod hill projects into the basin, and Is honeycombed
with holes eight feet square. Mount Alexander la more to
the earth, and as in New South Wales, it seems
the elaileat yield of gold Is obtained from • strata
et Wee slay found at • depth of from 2 feet to 9 feet.
rem these circumstances it will readily be imagined that
them are two kinds of diggings—river diggings and dry
diggings: at the dey diggings, away altogether from the
dm" VII meat be head me the surface. But we will
=a preys( illptere ever all the didlculties of the
I arrived on the gold field. toles" they are so
leelmeht se to have arrived at • time when some new dig-
gings ham been discovered and before all the claims are
anapied, they will have to prospect in search of one: ea
while some are left la charge of the property, °then pro-
dded with pickaxe, spade, and prospecting pan, start on
the prospecting tour: the pan is merely a large round fiat-
bottomed shallow tin dish, into which, as soon as they come
to what they consider • good place, they will throw • spade-
fal of earth and stooge—carrying it down with them to the
stream, they will here dip it into the water and shake it, thus
allowing the particles of gold, if there, to descend by their
weight through the upper layer of agitated earth and stones,
then boltUng it so that the water may carry off the earth
through which it will have passed, they again dip it in the
water and repeat this simple process until the earth is all
carried away and the gold only left. As soon as they find
it in what they consider paying quantity, they will choose
some convenient place on the stream where they may esta-
blish their cradle. The cradle is exactly the same thing u
the common domestic article, with an upright wooden
handle attached to it, and is used solely as a convenient
machine for rocking an iron sieve placed at one end of it.
flied
Under the sieve is in the cradle • board sloping down-
wards, with • °maple of ledges across dividing it into three
nearly equal parts. The earth and stones are thrown into
the sieve, when the cradle ought to be vigorously rocked,
water being White time poured on so as thoroughly to sepa-
rate the mud, clay, and earth from the stones. When this is
done, a gleam Is sufiloimst to tell if there are any nuggets of
gold among the stones—theugh, for that matter, the risk of
throwing them away without looking would not be
very great, so rarely is it the case that there are
' any. The sieve is thee filled again, the cradle rocked,
the stones thrown out, and the process repeated until the
accumulation of mud at the ledges is considered sufficient,
which is then carefully scraped away, and the gold picked
out. Frequently there is none, sometimes only a few
grains, but occasionally many ounces are taken out. In
the cue of dry diggings that we have been supposing, the
soil will of course have to be carried some distance to the
cradle at the stream, and if not hemmed in by other claims
the diggers will extend their operations at the surface, to
save labour, unless they find the yield as they go down
more than compensates. But river claims are considered
the most valuable, and here it is not such a rine gun non to
procure gold at the surface, because they look to the holes
and crevUu in the original rock bed of the stream—pockets
as they call them—for the chief reward of all their toil in
reaching it. So the prospecting party will most likely

direct their steps to the river, and examine well a its
peculiarities. I'erhaps they will choose soma premising
bar, where if with the prospecting dish they procure gold in
any tolerable quantity it settles the point at once, sod they
will bring down the cradle, pitch their tent, life. But the
soil may be gravel, and they eau scarcely then expect
to procure gold, by washing, near the surface ; for the
gravel [King easily separated by the current will have
allowed the gold to pay through to the bed of the stream ;
but if after removing the top stoma that almost invariably
find their way to them: bats they reach a tenacious clay, as
it will never in all probability have been thoroughly dol-
lintegrated by the current, they may calculate on hutting
gold at once. A blue e: iy a-yeti:illy is considered very
prouthing, tleni4h it give. et ours a great deal of treuale
I in the washing, being exceedingly difficult to get thoroughly
away from the stones stud pebble. that it clings to so
tenaciously. If they determine upon working this bur
they will dig a trench, and by the aid of heel' troughs
divert the stream. They will then dig till they reach the
original bed, alter removing in their way to it enormous
Oahe and atones—a labour which is nut unfrequeutly for
nothing. Or the party niay choose some bank or emir over
which at some ancient date the ' hen flowed. Here
they will uutice where the paint would have been,
and pr)bably sill chewy the spot where they think the
eddy caused by it has existed. Should they not procure
gold at the surface they may yet, according to circum-
stances, determine to work it, and very often holes twenty
feet deep and upwards may be seen, out of which nut a par-
ticle has ever been procured. As before, they will ail; till
they reach the original bed, and should they be so fortunate
as to obtain a grad yield Irons its pock.-to, following their
direction, they will tunnel under the adjoining banks.
Sometimes it happens that while in one bole Ituudreds of
pounds worth are thus practised in sue clay, the next claim
will have yielded nothing. Many indeed work for weeks
without meeting with any SUM.... During last winter the
welts St known fur twenty years at the mints, the working
of the bed claims has been meet seriously impeded; in fact,
it has been impossible to work slime sal them at gal fur
months together; but this circumstance so unfavourable to
the New South Wale. diggers, has proved quite the
reverse to those at work on Moat Alexander, noto-
rious so it is in ordinary actions for its want of
water: even before I lift Sydney this complaint 111118 again
abroad, and I hear that sixty men from Sydney hod re-
turned disappointed in consequence. It would be extra malt'
desirable to determine hew far mining, ii. at present carried
on, partakes of the nature of a lent ry ; but the data are
an contradictory, exaggerated, and inaccurate, that this is
almost impossible: still 1 believe the prevalent hope., stews
to he unwarranted by (acts : it is very questionable whether
the acted gross yield of the Mint's has as yet et/mantel the
expense incurred in consequence of their discovery—isolated
facts, account* of individual outcry create undue impres-
sions, people are apt to forget the oblivion that attends
failure in reading the glowing accounta of nor suddenly en-
richest. Now .here have been numerous failures at tell the
diggings, even at Mount Alexander; b.t there are MO cer-
tain data by which we can arrive at the average earnings
The licensee issued afford no clue, us at one time only a pear
tion of the diggers took them out, and it can scarcely be
doubted that in the numerous out of the way vallies, there
is many • digger rocking his cradle and saving his license lee.
We can only surmise them from the accounts of the diggers
themselves: the average carninga of the lir-t 400 at Ophir
appear to have been about 10s. • day; but their success was
most unequal. Mr. Forbes gives .t as his opinion that
where one gets 201. or 301., Al) earn Ida a day, ant: 41
scarcely their rations. Later still a newspaper corn -pen-
dent estimates the • ge eaniings at al. • wee k, and
8 rya no one would Oct it above 31.; few rated the ivt 1.3g0
earnings at the 'l'uron above U. per week. At Lour,'
Creek, the correspondent of the Empire puts it at 10.. a day
per man, when successful ones were getting • quarter of an
ounce daily, and scores not earning rations; at Braidwootl,
at the best time, li.. to 314. At Mount Alexander Wine esti-
mate it to have been at one time as high us 31. a day per man ;
but the commiesiouers at the sante time puts it at limn his.
to 30s. Comparing all the 'mount., it see-ma probable that at
a time when the mail and weekly escort were bringing down
between 5,000 and 6,000 ounce.. weekly, the number engaged
in mining operations approached at least 24000; but
failures were very. numerous, so many totally unfit far the
work engaged in it, to say nothing of other causes. lacked,
generally, I do not ttiuk the ht character of the only
prper persons to emigrate can be too strongly insisted on.
Botli in Australia and New Zealand I have met mart' who
should never have left their own country."
The CHAIRMAN said that he felt much indebted to
Mr. Shilling, in common with the meeting, but would feel
obliged if he could throw any light on • fart which had
been communicated to him. A friend had sent out SOO
sovereigns as a venture to purchase gold, and the result
of the transaction, after paying all expames, was a profit
of only 11. 15s. lid.
Mr. SHILLING suggested that the gold might not have
been properly *wiped. 'there was only one person in
Sydney who kuew how to assay gold.
A Gentleman present read extracts from a Sydney paper
just received, to show that there were numbers of persons
out of employment there, and seeking it at small salaries, also
that the average earning was about an ounce and a quarter
per week per man. From this paper the gentlemau in-
reefed that wages had not risen at Sydney.
Mr. SHILLING said when he lett Sydney Ireful; biro
rising rapidly. Tinmen got W. per week, and bakers 21.
Mr. S. SYDNEY said there was no doubt there was
ample employment in Australia fur strong men, but per-
sons of the Getter class who thought of going out would do
well to recollect that the work was something like laying
gas-pipes in London. There were many young men here
who dressed well but had little money in their packet. If
they were not afraid when out of sight of their friends to
become shepherds or bullock•driven, they might get plenty
of employment and good wages.
Mr. J. SAUNDERS said he had resided thirteen years in
the colony, and believed that those advertisements for
situations were from men of bad character, who would not
get employment anywhere. (Haar.) lie believed that
forty or fifty thousand hands could at this moment he
absorbed by the labour of the colony without incon-
venience.

In answer to an inquiry, two or three gentlemen simul-
taneously said that sovereigns were the best venture that
emigrants could take with them, and Mr. Shilling added
that the espense of living at the diggings was about 151.
• week.

Mr. FOSTER proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Shil-
ling.
Professor TENNENT, in seconding the vote, dwelt
upon the necessity of some chemical and mineralogical
knowledge, as preliminaries to the Australian voyage.
Many were now going who did not know one ore from
another, and the best advice he eculd give to intending
emigrants was to go down for two or three weeks to the
mines of Derbyshire, or Cornwall, and there study the
various processes connected with digging, washing, and
smelting the ores. (Hear, hear.) The learned professor in
conclusion, observed that without some previous study of
this kind the emigrant from Saxony and France would
have great advantages over the English, as. generally
speaking they were much better educated. (Hear, hear)
The vote of thanks was then passed by acclamation, and
the proceedings terminated.

SOCIETY OF FRIENDS OF FOREIGNERS IN

DISTRESS.

Yesterday, the anniversary dinner of this society
took place at the London Tavern. In the absence of the
Earl of Shaftesbury, who was to have takes the chair, but
who,ehniap been honoured with her Majesty's commands,
was to dine at the Palace, his Excellency the Che •
taller lumen presided. Amongst the company present,
which consisted for the mat part of Germans, were the Hon.
Abbott Lawrence the Minister of the United Stake, Vis-
count d'Alto, Baron de Berg, Cid. J. Aspinwall, the Che-
valier Hebeler, the Danish Consul-General, Fletcher Wil-
son, Esq., and Dr. Adam, of Bremen.
After the usual loyal toasts had been drunk and duly
honoured, Mr. CVPFLZY, one of the stewards, proposed the
health of the foreign emperor., kings, and princes, and
their representatives in this country, with which he coupled
the nerve of the Hon. Abbott Lawrence'.

Hr. LAWIIKNoi, in returning thanks, said that his friend
and colleague, the chairman, would bear him witness that it
involved no mall amount of responsibility to represent
one's own country; but when all the emperors add kings
and princes of k.urope were placed on h. a shoulders in ad-
dition, he hardly know how to thank them for the com-
pliment. (Laughter.) He appeared there not as the
representative of his country, some of whose citizens he
was glad to say came to ask charity for the wciety, but as
• citizen of the world, to express his sympathy 'for the
objects of the society, and because he came from a country
which was inhabited by all nations and creeds and kindreds.
He came there as a Christian man, to express his sympathy
with the distioased of all nations, and for that mighty
Gestamn--empire, he was going to say—for empire he
wbbod it wee. (Loud cheers.) Ho should be glad to see
1111,400,000 of men united in the great cause of promoting
Ikt eivilization and amelioration of their fellow men.
MM.) But the object for which they had awembled on this
aliall111•111111 to promote the prosperity of the weiety,
And bit weld name no society in which so much good had
Mss effected by the moans at its disposal. He therefore
Wooled that on this occasion they would strike their hands
dor:into their pockets. (Cheers.)
CHAMMAN then proposed the toast of the evening,
" The Prosperity of the Society of the Friends of Foreigners
in Distr.-se.- During the put year 82 aged pensione,s had
received de. a week, which amounted to 1,0031. Allowances
had been given to 98 persons to the amount of 4371. 10s.
The canna relief given amounted to 7021. Bs. The passage
money of 118 persons renaming to their own countries, had
been paid to the amount of 1781. 18e. Altogether, casual
relief had bees given in, 1,883 cases dunng the past
year, and of awes no lees than 1,072 were Germans.
He thought this circumstance should stimulate the natives
of Germany, who had the means of doing so, to come for-
ward and aid to the utmost of their power the Society of the
Friends of Foreigners in Distress. They expected a consi-
derable increase of income from the influx of foreigners
duriag the bet year, but he regretted to say that their
beg. Ikeil Wet disappointed ; for whilst - - -
feesigasee lead remained
coign ben visitors did

not advanced lost year,
make up for the past
present a:elision. (Cheers.,
'rh• toast was drunk wit'
quently announced by
that the subscriptions
The other toasts of
dents of the society," _
of the regiment., of Guards
a selection of music -
Gene, contributed to

minted; for whilst maziydiStre;;el
ed behind after the /I:hit:idiom, the re-
lit not exceed 161. The society •
mr, but he trusted that they
tat
year b 7 increased • • • • .;
beers
k with enthusiasm, and fl the chairman, .
amidst. • .1‘) •
I amounted to 2,6291. ft,,,VVZ • 1
the evening were "T „
and "The stewards."
f. • r. 41
nerds was in attendance, •i.
. .
under the superinten,,a. • • -
) the pleasure of the eve •'" wli •-•
•