He was attracted
by a glittering yellow substance on the surface of a block of quartz.
With his tomahawk he broke off a piece, which he carried home to his
master, Dr. Kerr, of Wallawa. Not being able to move the mass
conveniently, Dr. Kerr broke it into small fragments. The place where
it was found is at the commencement of an undulating table-land, very
fertile, and near to a never-failing supply of water in the Murroo
Creek. It is distant about fifty miles from Bathurst, thirty from
Wellington, and twenty from the nearest point of the Macquarie river.
Dr. Kerr presented the native and his brother with two flocks of sheep,
two saddle-horses, a quantity of rations, a team of bullocks, and some
land.
About twenty yards from the spot where this mass was found, a piece of
gold called the "Brennan Nugget" was soon after discovered. It weighed
three hundred and thirty-six ounces, and was sold in Sydney for more
than 1,100 pounds.
But it would be useless to enter into fuller particulars of the
diggings of New South Wales. Panoramas, newspapers, and serials have
made them familiar to all.
Chapter XV.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, was the last formed of the
three sister colonies. In 1834 an act of colonization was obtained; and
land, both in town and country, sold rapidly. The colonists, however,
were most unfortunately more engaged in speculating with the land, than
grazing upon or tilling it; and the consequence was, that in a few
years the South Australians were only saved from a famine by the
unexpected arrival overland of herds and flocks from Victoria. As it
was, horses and cows of a very indifferent kind were sold for
more than a hundred pounds a-piece, and sheep for five pounds a head.
The discovery of the copper mines alone saved the country from ruin.
The first was the Kapunda. It was accidentally discovered by a
shepherd, who picked up a piece on the surface of the ground, and
showed it to his master. Pieces of copper ore may even now be found in
the same way.
Next followed the far-famed Burra-Burra. In the latter mine there is a
great quantity of malachite, which, when smelted, gives copper at an
average of eighty-five per cent.
South Australia possesses the finest river in Australia - namely, the
Murray, on which steamers will soon ply as far as five hundred miles up
the country. On either side of this river is a thick and dry
scrub - sometimes ten, sometimes thirty miles wide. In this scrub, manna
is not unfrequently found, to the great delight of the natives, who are
very fond of it. It is of a very excellent description, and in colour
has a slight tendency to pink.
Adelaide itself is a well-laid out town. The streets are built in the
same manner as in Sydney and Melbourne; but those in Adelaide are much
wider. Many of the buildings and warehouses are highly creditable,
particularly when we take the juvenile age of the colony into
consideration.
Adelaide has never yet been "a transportation colony," and the society
there is usually considered more RECHERCHE than in any other city in
Australia. The climate is very good, and the vine flourishes as in the
south of France. The principal export of South Australia is copper, to
which may be added some wool and tallow.
The roads about are excellent, and the small farms in the neighbourhood
are more in the English style than one could expect to meet with so
many thousand miles away from home.
The overland route from Adelaide to Melbourne is about four hundred
miles in length. In summer the road is pretty good, but in winter, a
lake or swamp of twenty miles extent has to be waded through.
The scrub about South Australia is very thick, and any one may easily
lose themselves in it. This has in fact often been the case, and a
fearful instance of it occurred some few years ago. A young lady - the
daughter of a gentleman residing near Adelaide - started out one Sunday
afternoon with a book as her companion. Evening came, and she did not
return, which alarmed her family, and search was made far and near - but
in vain. On the fourth day, they at length discovered her lying dead at
the foot of a tree. The pages of her book were covered with sentences,
pricked in with a pin, expressive of her sufferings and of her
unavailing efforts to retrace her steps. She was only three miles from
her father's house when she sank down to die of hunger, thirst, and
exhaustion; and probably during the whole time of her wanderings had
never exceeded that distance from her home.
The Adelaide gold-diggings began to excite attention in the months of
August and September, 1852. In October the following report was made:
"Camp, Echunga, Gold-Fields,
"October 2, 1852.
"Sir,
"I have the honour to state for the information of his Excellency the
Lieutenant-Governor, that since my last report sixty licences have been
issued, making a total of three hundred and fifty-six. * * * * Many
families of respectability have arrived, and are now living in
comfortable and commodious tents. The presence of well-dressed women
and children gives to the gold-fields, apparently distinguished for
decorum, security and respectability.
"From the feeling of greater security and comfort, combined with
cheapness of living, all classes of diggers are unanimous in their
preference of this place to Victoria.
