The name Australia, like that of California, conjures up in the mind visions of gold; and the story of the gold excitement in both is very similar. January 24, 1848, was the red-letter day in California's history, and the news that transpired that day electrified the world. While constructing a saw-mill at Coloma Creek, a branch of the American River, John Marshall picked up a handful of gold nuggets in the mill-race. At once the gold fever seized all far and near. During the ensuing year fifty thousand persons came by sea and by land from the States east of the Rocky Mountains, and forty thousand more from other parts of the world; all bent upon digging for gold in the new El Dorado.
From far-off Australia came vessels crowded with passengers. Among these was Edward H. Hargraves, who had lived for twenty years in New South Wales, where fortune had not smiled on him. Hargraves was a keen observer and something of a geologist as well. He diligently scoured the gullies and canyons in the gold regions of California, and when he quit he possessed a good sum of money as a return for his labor. During his stay in California he became convinced that gold existed in Australia, since many of the formations and strata were similar to those of the gold-bearing fields of California.
After working for nearly two years, he planned to return to his old home, implicitly believing that he could win riches and fame by discoveries of the precious metal in New South Wales; and as soon as he had landed at Sydney he made ready to test his theories. When he explained to his friends what he purposed to do and his reasons they considered him half crazy. Moreover, rumors that convict shepherds had sold gold nuggets to traders in Sydney strengthened his belief that gold in paying quantities could be obtained by seeking for it. There were rumors also that a gold nugget had been picked up on Fish River.
Procuring a team he set forth on his journey for the Blue Mountains lying back of Sydney. On the fourth day out, stopping at an inn kept by a widow, he confided to her his mission and enlisted her co-operation. He requested a black boy for a guide; but instead she sent her son, who was well acquainted with every inch of the region for miles around.
Taking horses, Hargraves and the young man started out from the inn. It was a crisp autumn morning succeeding a dry summer. A careful search was made up and down canyons and gulches. At length, during the latter part of the day, they reached the bank of a dry creek which disclosed strata similar to the auriferous gravels of California.
Looking about, Hargraves found a spot in the bed of the creek from which, after scooping off the top, he scraped from the bedrock a panful of earth. Hastening to the water hole with the loaded pan, he proceeded to wash away the soil and lo, in the bottom of the pan were bright-yellow particles!
"I shall be made a baronet and both of us will be rich," exclaimed the excited Hargraves. He seemed to be walking upon air and could scarcely believe his own senses. Nevertheless, he prudently kept his own counsel until he had taken out sixty thousand dollars. Then he hastened to Sydney to lay the matter before the government. The government gave him a reward of fifty thousand dollars for his discoveries and made him commissioner of the gold fields.
Hargraves's unexpected find stimulated other persons to search elsewhere for the attractive metal, and soon other and far richer fields were found. From one locality alone seven tons of gold were obtained in a single month.
The whole country now went gold mad. Doctors left their patients, lawyers their offices, bakers and butchers their shops, clerks the stores, and sailors deserted their ships as soon as they touched the wharves—everybody hastened to the diggings eager to get rich.
When confirmation of the wonderful gold deposits in Australia reached the outside world, a grand rush, like that to California, took place. New towns and cities sprang up as by magic, and from the increase of business the older places rapidly became more populous. Since the time of Hargraves's discovery, Victoria has produced the most gold, some of the largest nuggets in the world having been found in this colony.