LIII.
MINERAL RESOURCES OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND.
COLONIAL EXHIBITS AT THE PHILADELPHIA CENTENNIAL—WONDERFUL MINERAL WEALTH OF THE ANTIPODES—CURIOUS FEATURES OF THE GOLD FIELDS—HOW A PARTY OF CALIFORNIANS WERE DECEIVED—DISCOVERIES OF GOLD AND HOW THEY WERE MADE—TROUBLES WITH THE MINERS—AN INSURRECTION AND ITS RESULT—FIELD OF THE AUSTRALIAN MINES—COAL, IRON, AND OTHER MINERALS—THE RESOURCES OF NEW ZEALAND—ITS GOLD YIELD—GEOLOGICAL PECULIARITIES—AGRICULTURAL AND OTHER WEALTH—VICISSITUDES OF MINING LIFE—PLANS FOR ENCOURAGING IMMIGRATION.
At the International Exhibition held at Philadelphia in 1876, the Australian colonies attracted much attention by reason of their exhibits. All the products of the continent were displayed, and there was an interesting array which embraced a wide variety. Vegetable products were those from grains and grasses up to sections of trees and specimens of limbs and bark; and a fine exhibit of minerals was displayed. In the center of the space occupied by each of the colonies, there was something of great interest to the gold hunter; it was a monumental record of the gold taken out from the time of the discovery of the precious metal in Australia, down to the year of the Exhibition. In one case, it was a tall obelisk covered with gold leaf; its cubic contents were equal to that of the gold taken out of the earth in the colony, that presented it. Another of the colonies had a similar monument, but gave it the shape of an oblong block, and a third put it in the form of a gilded pillar. One of the colonies had plaster casts of the most famous nuggets it had produced; they were gilded so as to present a wonderfully deceptive appearance, and as they lay in their cases, they attracted large crowds, including many persons, who supposed they were gazing upon the genuine lumps of the precious metal.
RESOURCES OF AUSTRALIA.
Down to the date of the discovery of gold, Australia was almost aterra incognita, and the chief knowledge which the outer world possessed of it was as a place of exile for English convicts. It was known to have excellent qualities as a grazing country, and attracted emigration among those who wished to follow farming and sheep and cattle raising. It had long been known to possess iron and other minerals, but none of them were supposed to be of great value. Indeed, a geological survey of Victoria and New South Wales, less than fifty years ago, was fruitless in its results, and the engineers who were engaged upon it reported that the country must rely for its wealth upon its agricultural facilities alone.
It would be useless to attempt a classification of the districts in which gold has been found, as new deposits are opened up every year, and no man can determine with precision the limit of the auriferous territory. The deposits are unlike those of most other countries, so much so, that old miners of California who go to Australia, find that their previously acquired knowledge is of comparatively little use. Quartz and pipe-clay are generally associated with gold in the Australian diggings; the quartz is found in all sizes and shapes, from minute pebbles worn and smooth by many centuries of attrition, up to huge masses weighing many tons, and cropping out from the surface in fantastic forms.
Gold is also found intermixed with sandstone, iron-stone, and white and blue clay. In fact, it is found in many conditions, unknown in California and elsewhere, and this state of things has given rise to some curious incidents.
During the first years of the golden age in Australia, many miners went thither from California. They looked at the ground with practical and critical eyes, and some of them declared that the whole story of rich deposits in places where they were said to exist, must be wholly false, as gold “could not” be found there, according to their knowledge of mining matters. A party of them went one day on a prospecting tour up a small valley, and returned in disgust. No gold was or could be there.
A JOKE AND WHAT CAME OF IT.
While they were at supper in their tent, three or four freshly arrived gold hunters came up and innocently inquired their way to a good place to dig. As a joke, the Californians told them that they had that day visited a valley which was very rich, and would make a handsome return to anybody who worked it.
Bright and early next morning, the strangers, who were novices in gold digging, were on their way to the new mines. They found nobody there, somewhat to their surprise, and hesitated for fear they were in the wrong place. One of the Californians followed them stealthily, and finally saw them begin work. Then he returned to his companions, and all had a good laugh over the “sell” upon the new comers.
The latter worked diligently, and in almost complete ignorance of mining rules. The first two days they found nothing, but on the third day, they struck a rich lead and were happy.
The Californians had forgotten the sell upon the strangers, when, a couple of weeks after the perpetration of the joke, one of the latter came around and asked why they were not at work in the place which they said was so rich. The Californians laughed, and one of them said:
“You hain’t been working there all this time, have you?”
“Of course we have,” was the reply.
“Well, now, give it up,” said California, “the joke’s gone far enough.”
“Joke, what joke?” the stranger asked.
“Why, we sent you up there just for a joke, because you were greenhorns. There ain’t no gold there, nor never was.”
“Well, if that’s so, the joke is on you,” was the reply, and the miner told of the good luck of his party.
The Californians devoted a few minutes to unincumbered profanity, and then went and staked out claims near those of the strangers. Thus they indirectly made something out of their practical joke. Thus was discovered one of the richest fields in the Bathurst district.
Profitable diggings are scattered all over the country, but are chiefly in New South Wales and Victoria. The gold wasat first found in small lumps in the surface earth, but this was soon exhausted. Then deep excavations were made, and though the deposits were not so numerous, the lumps were found to be larger. At Ballarat, near Geelong, where the most valuable lumps were found, the shafts were sunk sometimes to a depth of more than a hundred feet. Masses of pure gold weighing many pounds were brought to light—one of them weighed no less than one hundred and thirty six pounds, and was valued at more than thirty thousand dollars.
Previous to the gold discovery, copper ore of great richness was found in South Australia, not far from Adelaide. Other deposits of copper have been found, and there are many fine veins of tin, lead, and silver. In fact, the mineral wealth of Australia is by no means fully known, and the opportunities for making fortunes are very far from exhaustion.
VAST BEDS OF COAL.
Coal exists in many localities, especially on the eastern coast, where it is found associated with beds of sandstone. The seams are large and of great extent; the coal is of good quality and easily mined; it has proved to be a source of great wealth to those engaged in putting it upon the market. By facilitating steam communication, it has done much toward the development of the colonies, especially that of Victoria.
The history of the gold discovery in Australia is no less romantic than the account of the finding of the treasure deposits in California.
The first discoverer of gold in Australia is believed to have been the Rev. W. B. Clarke, of Sydney, who, in 1841, found gold in the mountainous regions to the west of the Vale of Clwyd, in New South Wales; in 1844, he exhibited a specimen of gold in quartz to the then Governor, Sir George Gipps, and others. But the subject was not followed up, “as much from considerations of the penal character of the colony, as from general ignorance of the value of such an indication.” Mr. E. H. Hargreaves returned to Sydney from California in 1850, for the express purpose, as he states, of searching for gold; and on the 12th of February, 1851, he succeeded in finding gold at Summer Hill Creek, in New South Wales. Thisdiscovery afterwards led to gold being found in other places in that colony, and to the discovery of the gold-fields of Victoria.
SEPARATION OF VICTORIA FROM NEW SOUTH WALES.
Previous to this time, however, the colony of Victoria was a dependency of New South Wales, and a strong feeling had gained ground that it suffered in consequence. Complaints were made that the expenditure of Government moneys in the district was not equal to the amount of revenue yielded by the taxes levied and lands sold within its borders. The distance from the capital was also found to operate injuriously to the interests of the colonists, and a cry was raised for separation. The demand was, as a matter of course, resisted by New South Wales, but as the agitation was carried on with increased activity, it was at last yielded to by the Home authorities. The vessel bearing the intelligence arrived on the 11th of November 1850. The news soon spread, and great was the satisfaction of the colonists. Rejoicings were kept up in Melbourne for five consecutive days, on three of which not even a newspaper was published, and on the night of one the city was illuminated. Before, however, the separation could be legally accomplished, it was necessary that an act should be passed in New South Wales, to settle details in connection with the establishment of a Legislature in the new colony, and that sundry other observances should be gone through. The requisite forms were at length given effect to: on the 1st of July 1851, a day which has ever since been scrupulously observed as a public holiday, it was publicly announced that the Port Philip district of New South Wales had been made a separate colony, to be called Victoria, after the name of the Queen of England.
In little more than a month after the establishment of Victoria as an independent colony, it became generally known that rich deposits of gold existed within its borders. Two years and a half previously a lump of gold had been exhibited in the shop of a jeweler at Melbourne, named Brentani, which it was said had been found in the locality of the Pyrenees Ranges by a shepherd named Chapman. This created some little excitement at the time, but as the man could never point out the place where he had found the specimen, and indeedsoon deserted a small searching party he had undertaken to guide to the spot, it was readily supposed he was an impostor, and had obtained the gold by melting some articles of jewelry he had stolen, and so the belief in the existence of a goldfield gradually grew weaker. The discovery of gold, however, in New South Wales, by Hargreaves, in February 1851, caused numbers to emigrate to that colony. This being considered detrimental to the interests of Victoria, a public meeting was held in Melbourne on the 9th of June, at which a “gold-discovery committee” was appointed, which was authorized to offer rewards to any that should discover gold in remunerative quantities within the colony.
The following is a short statement of the order in which the Select Committee appointed by the Legislative Council to consider claims for rewards for gold discoveries in Victoria, placed the various claimants in their report dated 10th of March 1854:
HISTORY OF THE GOLD DISCOVERY.
The Hon. W. Campbell discovered gold in March 1850, at Clunes; concealed the fact at the time from the apprehension that its announcement might prove injurious to the squatter on whose run the discovery was made, but mentioned it in a letter to a friend on the 10th of June, and afterwards on the 5th of July 1851, which friend, at Mr. Campbell’s request, reported the matter to the gold-discovery committee on the 8th of July. Mr. L. J. Michel, and six others, discovered gold in the Yarra Ranges, at Anderson’s Creek, which they communicated to the gold-discovery committee on the 5th of July. Mr. James Esmond, a California digger, and three others, obtained gold in the quartz rocks of the Pyrenees, and made the discovery public on the 5th of July. Dr. George Bruhn, a German physician, found indications of gold in quartz “two miles from Parker’s station,” in April 1851, and forwarded specimens to the gold committee on the 30th of June. Mr. Thomas Hiscock found gold at Buninyong on the 8th of August, and communicated the fact to the editor of theGeelong Advertiseron the 10th of the same month. This discovery led to that of the Ballarat gold-fields. Mr. C. T. Peters, a hut-keeper at Barker’s Creek, and three others, found gold at Specimen Gully on the20th of July; worked secretly to the 1st of September, then published the account. This led to the discovery of the numerous gold-fields about Mount Alexander, and afterwards to those of Bendigo.
The deposits were found to be richer and to extend over a wider area than any which had been discovered in New South Wales. Their fame soon spread to the adjacent colonies, and thousands hastened to the spot, desirous of participating in the newly found treasures. When the news reached home, crowds of emigrants from the United Kingdom hurried to these shores. Inhabitants of other European countries quickly joined in the rush. Americans from the Atlantic States were not long in following. Stalwart Californians left their own gold-yielding rocks and placers, to try their fortunes at the southern Eldorado. Last of all, swarms of Chinese arrived, eager to unite in the general scramble for wealth.
TROUBLES ABOUT MINING LICENSES.
The payment for a license to dig for gold was first fixed at £1 10s. per month, and this was afterwards reduced to £1 10s. per quarter. The license fee was not seriously objected to in the early days of the gold-fields, when gold was found in large quantities by almost all who sought it, but in the course of a year or two, the number of gold diggers had increased so enormously that many were unsuccessful, and the license fee even in its reduced state became a heavy burden. The mode of collecting the tax by means of armed troopers, who surrounded parties of miners at work, and arrested all without licenses, was very obnoxious, and led to resistance.
Towards the end of the first year of the gold discovery, the Government determined to raise the license fee to £3 per month, and actually issued a proclamation, dated 1st December 1851, stating that on and after the 1st of January 1852 such amount would be charged. This was met by strong protests on the part of the diggers, which resulted in the proclamation being rescinded on the 13th of December 1851. No licenses therefore were ever issued at the increased rate.
Public meetings were held on some of the gold-fields to protest against this state of things, but as little notice wastaken of them by the government, the discontent continued. It finally culminated in an outbreak at Ballarat, near the end of 1854, when the diggers erected a stockade known as the Eureka, and defied the authorities. All the troops that could be mustered were sent to Ballarat and on the 2d of December, the stockade was taken by storm. The riot was quelled with some bloodshed on both sides, and a government commission was appointed to investigate the matter. None of the prisoners were ever convicted, and the result of the affair was that the oppressive tax upon the miners was removed.
INCREASE OF POPULATION.
The effect of the gold discovery upon the population of Australia may be seen by a few figures from the returns of the last census in 1871. On the 2d of April of that year, the number of inhabitants in Victoria was 731,528. Ten years previously it was 540,322. The increase during this interval was therefore 191,206, or 35.39 per cent. In 1851, which was the year of the discovery of gold, the population amounted to 77,345. The increase in the twenty years between that period and 1871 was therefore 654,183, or at the rate of 846 per cent.
Like all gold mining countries, Australia has attracted a great many adventurers in search of wealth. Nearly every country on the earth was represented in the emigration, and many of the representatives were not calculated to reflect credit upon the lands of their birth. Probably the accumulation of all kinds of races and nationalities in California was fully equaled by that in Australia, and particularly at Melbourne. At one time murders were so common in that city that a correspondent writing from thence, said it was the “bourne whence no traveler returns.”
It is a remarkable fact that, both in 1873 and 1874, more persons born in the United States, in proportion to their numbers in the population, were arrested in the colony of Victoria, than those of any other nationality. The chief causes of arrest were, as in the case of citizens of most other countries, drunkenness and disorderly conduct; still, there were a not inconsiderable number of arrests for more serious offenses, and the proportion committed for trial was much greater than that ofpersons born in any other country. The number of Americans settled in Victoria is but small, and it is not impossible that it is to a certain extent made up of those who, in consequence of their misdeeds, found it desirable to absent themselves from the country of their birth, and that they conduct themselves no better there than they did at home. In the year under review, next to Americans, the Irish, in proportion to their numbers, contributed the largest number to the arrested; and next to them, the French. In 1873, more of the last-mentioned fell into the hands of the police than those of any other country, except the United States. In 1874, Frenchmen were next to Americans in the numbers committed for trial. The remark applied to the latter, with reference to the probable reason for their leaving their own country, will perhaps also be applicable to them. Although the proportion of Irish committed for trial was greater than that of either English, Welsh, Scotch, or Victorians, it was less than that of persons of any of the other nationalities.
TOTAL GOLD YIELD OF AUSTRALIA.
The whole quantity of gold taken out in Victoria alone, from the discovery down to the year previous to the exhibition at Philadelphia, was nearly forty-four and a half million ounces, representing a value of not far from nine hundred millions of dollars. Truly, Australia has been of no ordinary importance as a land of gold. Probably her total mineral wealth of every kind thus far taken from the earth and turned to practical use, would not fall short of two thousand millions of dollars!
As in California and elsewhere, the early form of working and surface diggings has given place to quartz mining. Of the yield, set forth in the most recent statistics, it is estimated that sixty per cent. of the gold came from quartz reefs, and forty per cent. from alluvial workings. In the previous year, it was estimated that fifty-seven per cent. was obtained from quartz reefs, and forty-three per cent. from alluvial workings.
According to estimates made by the mining surveyors and registrars, the number of quartz reefs proved to be auriferous is 3,398. The Secretary for Mines points out that these cannot in every case be distinct reefs, as parts of the same reef,in some localities, are held to be distinct ones, and named accordingly; and, moreover, as the reefs are further explored, it is frequently found that what were supposed to be separate reefs are in reality not distinct.
From information obtained by the same officers respecting the amount of gold obtained from a considerable proportion of the quartz crushed, the average yield per ton is estimated to have been 11 dwts. 10.55 grs. in 1873, and 11 dwts. 20.51 grs. in 1874.
Gold-mining in Australia, instead of being, as formerly, practiced by the individual miner, is now almost entirely in the hands of companies. In a single year, the dividends paid by these companies exceeded ten millions of dollars.
Following are some of the most famous Australian nuggets whose fac-similes were exhibited at Philadelphia:
FAMOUS NUGGETS.
The “Beauty” Nnugget weighed 242 ozs. It was discovered at a depth of nine feet from the surface, in Kangaroo Gully, Bendigo, in the year 1858. The gold was 22.2-7/8 carats fine.The “Platypus” nugget weighed 377 ozs. 6 dwts. It was found in Robinson Crusoe Gully, Bendigo, in a pillar of earth of a deserted claim. The claim was situated in shallow alluvium, and the nugget was discovered in March, 1861. The gold was 22.1-1/8 carats fine.The “Viscount Canterbury” nugget was found in John’s Paddock, Berlin Diggings, at a depth of fifteen feet from the surface, on the 31st of May, 1870. It weighed 1,105 ozs. The gold was 23.3 carats fine.The “Schlemn” nugget was found at Dunolly on the 11th of July, 1872, at a depth of three feet beneath the surface. It weighed 538 ozs., and is estimated to contain 60 ozs. of quartz.Nugget [not named] found in Broomfield’s Gully, Creswick, on the 8th of August, 1872. It weighed 24 ozs. 3 dwts., and was got at a depth of one hundred feet below the surface.The “Kum Tow” nugget weighed 718 ozs. 5 dwts. It was found on the 17th of April, 1871, in Catto’s Paddock, Berlin Diggings, at a depth of twelve feet six inches below the surface. It was found by a party of Chinamen. The gold was 23.3 carats fine.The “Viscountess Canterbury” nugget was found on the 3d of October, 1870, at Berlin. It was discovered at six feet six inchesbeneath the surface, and weighed 884 ozs. 10 dwts. The gold was 23.2-5/8 carats fine.
The “Beauty” Nnugget weighed 242 ozs. It was discovered at a depth of nine feet from the surface, in Kangaroo Gully, Bendigo, in the year 1858. The gold was 22.2-7/8 carats fine.
The “Platypus” nugget weighed 377 ozs. 6 dwts. It was found in Robinson Crusoe Gully, Bendigo, in a pillar of earth of a deserted claim. The claim was situated in shallow alluvium, and the nugget was discovered in March, 1861. The gold was 22.1-1/8 carats fine.
The “Viscount Canterbury” nugget was found in John’s Paddock, Berlin Diggings, at a depth of fifteen feet from the surface, on the 31st of May, 1870. It weighed 1,105 ozs. The gold was 23.3 carats fine.
The “Schlemn” nugget was found at Dunolly on the 11th of July, 1872, at a depth of three feet beneath the surface. It weighed 538 ozs., and is estimated to contain 60 ozs. of quartz.
Nugget [not named] found in Broomfield’s Gully, Creswick, on the 8th of August, 1872. It weighed 24 ozs. 3 dwts., and was got at a depth of one hundred feet below the surface.
The “Kum Tow” nugget weighed 718 ozs. 5 dwts. It was found on the 17th of April, 1871, in Catto’s Paddock, Berlin Diggings, at a depth of twelve feet six inches below the surface. It was found by a party of Chinamen. The gold was 23.3 carats fine.
The “Viscountess Canterbury” nugget was found on the 3d of October, 1870, at Berlin. It was discovered at six feet six inchesbeneath the surface, and weighed 884 ozs. 10 dwts. The gold was 23.2-5/8 carats fine.
Many other nuggets were shown. The last on the list was the “Welcome,” found on the 11th of June 1858, at one hundred and eighty feet below the surface, at Bakery Hill, Ballarat. It weighed 2,195 ounces!
It was long doubted, by able geologists, whether there were any rock formations in Australia that would yield diamonds; and even after discoveries of them had been made, doubts continued to be expressed about the truthfulness of the reports. For several years past the original discoveries have received confirmation by the undoubted subsequent unearthing of this interesting gem. They occur along with tin-sand and titaniferous ore, close by, if not actually in, decomposed granite; that is to say in rubbish, of which feldspar, mica, quartz, and iron form no inconsiderable proportion.
Lying below the present granitic rocks, and stretching for several miles, sometimes near the surface, and seldom two hundred feet below it, is a gravelly formation, consisting of the materials usually found in what, in Brazil, is called “Cascalho” and “Itacolumite” of the coarser kind. This may be observed quite commonly on the spoil heaps of the gold diggers. No diamonds have hitherto, however, been found in precisely this formation; but their allies, the pale blue topaz, many shades of corundum, both crystallized and amorphous, angular and water-worn, yellow and white pebbles of crystalline quartz, frequently of large size, zircons, &c., are quite common.
DIAMONDS AND OTHER GEMS.
The largest diamond yet found did not exceed four carats in weight, but was a fine stone.
Blue and green sapphires, spinels, topazes, and other gems are found occasionally, and there is a general belief among geologists that rich deposits of them may yet be discovered. Some authorities estimate the diamond-producing area of New South Wales at five hundred square miles. By the same estimate the coal fields are placed at 24,000 square miles, iron at 1,400, gold at 13,000, tin at 6,000, and copper at 3,000. Mineral lands are now leased at five shillings annual rental per acre.
RESOURCES OF NEW ZEALAND.
From an American point of view, Australia and New Zealand are associated, although they are distinct colonies, and are a long distance apart. New Zealand, discovered and named in 1642, by a Dutch navigator,Tasman, who also discovered and named Tasmania in the same year, consists of two large and one very small island, lying 1,200 miles south-eastward of Australia, between 34° and 48° south latitude, being about antipodal to Great Britain. Its length of coast line is 3,000 miles, its shape being long and narrow; its area is about that of the State of Oregon. It is of volcanic origin, ribbed with mountains, and is better watered than Australia in respect to both lakes and rivers. Its temperature is lower than that of corresponding latitudes in Europe, and higher than that of corresponding latitudes in America, but the climate is more salubrious than in Great Britain, although very changeful in temperature and moisture.
In minerals, it is nearly as rich as any of the colonies, the gold yield having been $9,937,125 in 1873, and the total exported to July 1, 1875, $151,407,045. Copper, silver, tin, iron, and coal have also been found. Nearly everything grown in Great Britain flourishes there, together with the fern in tree form thirty feet high, a wild flax, nearly equal to manila for rope-making, an excellent variety of valuable building and ship-building woods, and an abundance of the fruits of both semi-tropical and temperate countries. The population has risen thus from 26,707 by the original census of 1851: 1858, 59,413; 1861, 99,022; 1864, 172,518; 1867, 218,668; 1871, 256,260; 1874, 299,514; and of 1875, 375,876; all these figures exclusive of aborigines and Chinese, it thus appearing to be equaled only by Victoria and New South Wales, of the Australian colonies.
In respect to emigration, it compares favorably with Victoria, its excess of immigrants over emigrants having been 38,106 and 25,270 in 1874 and 1875 respectively, against 3,367 and 2,698 for Victoria in those years. It has 550 miles of railroad, and 7,065 of telegraph wire; Victoria has 586 and 4,981 miles respectively; New South Wales, 437 and 8,014. Its number of sheep was 11,704,853 in 1874, having multipliedabout two and a half times in ten years. The land under cultivation two years ago was 1,788,797 acres—an increase of 285,445 during the previous twelve months. Small as this total is—less than three per cent. of the whole—the proportion of cultivated land in New South Wales was less than one and one-half per cent., and in all Australia less than one-fourth per cent. at the same time. Taking as the assumed habitable portion the strip 250 miles wide along three sides of the Australian coast, 758,000 square miles in extent, that piece, nearly equaling in size the twenty-six States of this Union lying east of the Mississippi, would contain, if the island population were distributed over it, about three persons to the square mile, against three and one-half in New Zealand, eighty-three in New York, one hundred and fifty-eight in Massachusetts, three hundred and seventy-two in England, and four hundred and ten in Belgium. But the reader should remember that as these colonies are all pastoral, the area tilled is a very different matter from the area occupied. The principal endowment of Australia at present, besides mineral resources, being the vast areas of rich native grasses and the peculiar fitness of soil and climate which “make bad fleeces good and good better,” the colonist has become a herdsman.
It does not appear that New Zealand is behind her larger neighbors, a thousand miles distant, in any material respect. The colonies all invite immigration, and some of them have latterly taken energetic measures to secure it. They offer bounties to settlers, reduced passage rates, and other inducements, and have been quite successful both in England and America.
RICH MINERAL DEPOSITS.
The mineral resources of New Zealand are quite as varied as those of Australia. The rocks contain copper, iron, silver, gold, tin, and other metals, and there are extensive beds of coal of excellent quality. The processes employed in working the mines are almost identically the same as in Australia, so that an extended description is unnecessary. The great majority of the miners in New Zealand came originally from Australia, and their proportion of good and bad luck has been much like that in the latter country.