The “Viscountess Canterbury” nugget was found on the 3d of October, 1870, at Berlin. It was discovered at six feet six inches beneath 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.