"While walking from the home kraal (corral) to his house, in company with a neighbor, he saw on the ground a small piece of white quartz shining in the sun and noticed a few thin streaks of yellow in the quartz.
"He picked it up in a casual way, cast a glance at it, and handed it to his companion.
"'We're the richest men in the world,' he said, jokingly. 'You and I are running sheep over a gold-mine.'
"This jesting statement was literally true.
"But the other, who knew just enough about such matters to be really ignorant, wanted to display his small store of knowledge.
"'Gold!' he said contemptuously, 'that's what they call fool's gold. It's pyrites of some sort. Tut, tut, man! Golden nonsense! The only gold in this country is what grows on the backs of sheep.'
"Mr. Anderson, trusting to his companion's supposed better knowledge, threw the piece of quartz at a pair of wallabies (small kangaroos) that were leaping about, near by, and thus lost the chance of becoming the richest man in Australia. Five years later came the news of the gold-finds in California, and the more thoughtful men in New South Wales remembered these vague stories about gold having been found in the island continent.
"Now, let us get back to Cl'ck. His employer, Dr. Kerr, had bidden him keep his eyes open for any signs of gold, during his wanderings over the wild pasture land with his flocks. He promised to give him five pounds—a large sum for a black-fellow, in those days—for any piece of gold he should bring in, no matter how small.
"One day, in February, 1851, while leading his flocks to water at Meroo Creek, Cl'ck happened to see what looked like a smudge of yellow on the surface of a good-sized bowlder of quartz. He chipped at it with his long-handled hatchet, and there, solidly embedded in the bowlder, was a huge chunk of gold. It weighed over 102 pounds and was sold for over $20,000.
"This accidental discovery, which made Kerr rich, and which, incidentally, gave Cl'ck a hut and a sheep-kraal of his own, was amazing enough in itself. Even in California, which was then regarded as the very fountain-head of gold, no such nugget had been found. Yet, a couple of weeks later, a strike was made of such importance as to throw even the Black-fellow Nugget in the shade. This second strike determined the fortunes of Australia.