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 a terra 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.